Gold for Leibfarth in kayak, three more medals for France
The K1 finals continued the storyline from the morning’s canoe events, with Evy Leibfarth claiming her first-ever World Cup victory and the French duo Titouan Castryck and Anatole Delassus dominating the men’s podium. Camille Prigent added a silver medal for France. Jiri Prskavec finished fifth, and Antonie Galuskova placed ninth.
Just like Zuzana Pankova in the canoe event, Evy Leibfarth paddled to her first World Cup victory today. "I’m speechless. I’ve wanted this for such a long time—it’s been a goal of mine. I had a lot of runs today and just tried to be as fast as possible. I’m so happy it worked out. I could hear the fans cheering me on—they were absolutely amazing," said the 21-year-old American, grateful for the electrifying atmosphere in Prague’s Troja. Second place went to France’s Camille Prigent, while Great Britain’s Lois Leaver claimed the bronze.
Representing Czechia in the women’s kayak final was Antonie Galuskova. "I’m glad I made it to the final and that I showed good commitment. But there are still things I need to train more to make them more consistent. I gave it everything I had. I was really looking forward to the atmosphere—people made time to come and watch us, and I wanted to bring them some joy," she added with a smile.
Following the success of his French teammates on Saturday, Titouan Castryck earned his second win of the season, with Anatole Delassus adding another silver medal to his collection.
"It’s great to be back on the podium, especially again with Anatole. That makes it even better. We’ve trained together for a long time, and it’s paying off—we push each other. Today’s victory is also great for the overall World Cup standings," commented the 20-year-old Paris silver medallist. The French duo was joined on the podium by reigning Olympic champion Giovanni de Gennaro.
Jiri Prskavec finished in fifth place in the final. "Unfortunately, the middle section of the course didn’t go quite right, and then I knew my only chance was to take some risks, which didn’t entirely pay off. I lost a few more seconds there. The run was really rough; the crowd’s energy pulls you in—and that’s part of it. I really enjoyed the races. The atmosphere was amazing."
Jakub Krejci and Gabriela Satkova had promising starts in the qualification rounds, but mistakes near the end of their runs kept them from advancing to the final twelve.
"I don’t think it was a lack of focus—I probably misjudged how to approach that combination, and I was lacking a bit of strength. But it’s hard to say—I just didn’t hit it right. Water is tricky—sometimes it comes down to millimetres, and today I didn’t read it well," assessed Satkova.
Tomorrow’s World Cup program in Troja will feature kayak cross races.