The Women's K1 at the

2021 ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships The 2021 ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships took place from 22 to 26 September 2021 in Bratislava, Slovakia under the auspices of International Canoe Federation (ICF). It was the 41st edition. The events took place at the Čunovo Water Sports Ce ...

took place on 23 and 25 September 2021 at the Čunovo Water Sports Centre in

Bratislava Bratislava (, also ; ; german: Preßburg/Pressburg ; hu, Pozsony) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Slovakia. Officially, the population of the city is about 475,000; however, it is estimated to be more than 660,000 — approxim ...

. It was the 41st edition of the event, and 58 athletes from 29 nations competed.

Background

Eva Terčelj Eva Terčelj (born 21 January 1992) is a Slovenian slalom canoeist who has competed at the international level since 2007. She won five medals at the ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships with a gold (K1: 2019), a silver (K1 team: 2022) and three ...

of Slovenia entered as the reigning world champion, having taken the title in

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

in La Seu d'Urgell. Jess Fox was the World No. 1 and came into the championship having won the 2021 World Cup overall title and the last three World Cups. Ricarda Funk was the Olympic Champion from Tokyo and had the opportunity to become the first athlete to win the Olympics and World Championships in the same calendar year. World number 3

Corinna Kuhnle Corinna Kuhnle (born 4 July 1987 in Vienna) is an Austrian slalom canoeist who has competed at the international level since 2002. She won five medals at the ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships with two golds (K1: 2010, 2011), two silvers (K ...

was also a favourite, as the winner of the 2019 World Cup round on this course and having become European Champion earlier this year. 3-time Olympic medallist

Maialen Chourraut Maialen Chourraut Yurramendi (born 8 March 1983 in Lasarte-Oria) is a Spanish slalom canoeist who has competed at the international level since 2000. Chourraut has a full set of Olympic medals. She won the gold medal in the K1 event at the 2 ...

and World No. 5

Stefanie Horn Stefanie Horn (born 9 January 1991 in Bottrop, Germany) is a German-Italian Canoe slalom, slalom canoeist who competed for Germany from 2006 to 2012. She has represented Italy since 2013. She competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics. Horn is an athl ...

were notable absentees from the field. Leading into the event,

Jana Dukátová Jana Dukátová (born 13 June 1983) is a Slovak retired slalom canoeist who competed at the international level from 1999 to 2021. She won nine medals at the ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships with three golds (C1: 2010; K1: 2006; K1 team: ...

announced her retirement, ending a 25 year career that saw her become a three-time World Champion:

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

in K1;

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

in C1; and

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

in K1 team.

Competition format

The women's K1 event in canoe slalom uses a three-round format with heats, a semifinal and final. Athletes complete up to two runs in the heats. In the first heat, the 20 fastest women qualify automatically for the semifinal, whilst the rest complete another run in the repêchage second heat for a further 10 qualification positions. The final rank of non-qualifying athletes is determined by their second run score. Athletes start in the reverse order of their heats position in the semifinal and complete a single run, with the top 10 advancing to the final. The athlete with the best time in the single-run final is awarded gold. Penalties of 2 or 50 seconds are incurred for infractions such as missing a gate, touching a gate, or not negotiating gates in numerical order. A team may request up to one review of a penalty per boat in the heats or semifinals phases, with no enquiries considered in the finals.

Schedule

All times are Central European Summer Time ( UTC+2)

Results

Tokyo Olympic bronze-medallist Jessica Fox topped the first heat with a clean 89.18 ahead of Olympic Champion Ricarda Funk.

Camille Prigent Camille Prigent (born 18 December 1997) is a French slalom canoeist who has competed at the international level since 2013. She won two medals at the ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships with a gold in the K1 team event in 2018 and a silver in k ...

won the second heat with the fourth-fastest time of the day. 2016 Olympic silver-medallist

Luuka Jones Luuka Jones (born 18 October 1988) is a New Zealand slalom canoeist who has competed at the international level since 2006. Early life Jones was born in Tauranga in 1988. Her mother Denise Jones was a fan of the British actress Audrey Hepburn ...

finished 14th in the second heat, missing out on a spot in the semifinal. Despite 4 seconds of penalties, Funk topped the semifinal ahead of

and

Fiona Pennie Fiona Pennie (born 9 November 1982) is a British Canoe slalom, slalom canoeist who has competed internationally since 1997. She lives in Waltham Abbey (town), Waltham Abbey in Essex. Career Pennie won a bronze medal at the Junior World Champions ...

. Fox initially set the fastest time but was awarded a 50 second penalty on downstream gate 12, placing 25th. Reigning Champion

also received a 50 second penalty, finishing 26th. This left Kuhnle as the only previous World Champion (

and

) in the final. Funk won the 2021 K1W World Championship in a time of 94.80, including a 2 second penalty. Fellow countrywoman

Elena Apel Elena Lilik (née Apel, born 14 September 1998) is a German slalom canoeist who has competed at the international level since 2014. She is from Weimar, Germany but resides in Augsburg, home of the Augsburg Eiskanal. She won six medals at the I ...

won silver, forming the first quinella in this event since

Angelika Bahmann Angelika Bahmann (born 1 April 1952 in Plauen) is a former East German slalom canoeist and trainer who competed in the 1970s. She won a gold medal in the K-1 event at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich. Bahmann also won six medals in the ICF ...

and

Petra Krol Petra Krol is a former East German slalom canoeist who competed in the 1970s. She won three silver medals at the ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships, earning them in 1975 (K-1 team) and 1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bo ...

finished 1-2 in

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democratic R ...

. Great Britain's Kimberley Woods won bronze, 3 days after winning the teams title and just a week after being involved in a car accident whilst preparing for the event. Funk's victory marked the first time any canoe slalom athlete became Olympic and World Champion in the same calendar year. Penalties are included in the time shown. The fastest time in each round is shown in bold.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2021 ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships - Women's K1 ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships World Championships ICF International sports competitions hosted by Slovakia Sport in Bratislava Canoeing in Slovakia ICF