Bekova wins gold in the kayak cross time trial
The Sunday morning session of the World Cup in Prague-Troja featured the individual kayak cross time trials. In the women's event, home paddler Katerina Bekova was the fastest, while Italy's Giovanni de Gennaro topped the men's time trial. The entire Czech team advanced to the afternoon heats.
Katerina Bekova claimed her first-ever World Cup victory. “It’s incredible. The fact that it happened at home makes it really special for me,” said the Czech kayaker after the race. She secured first place by just seven hundredths of a second ahead of Germany’s Ricarda Funk, while France’s Marjorie Delassus finished third.
“Seven hundredths are such a tiny margin that it almost seems impossible. My start wasn’t ideal, and the first two or three gates didn’t go according to plan, but I managed the upstream sections well, and they kept me first,” added the time-trial winner. Also advancing to the afternoon elimination rounds were Tereza Kneblova, who qualified in fifth place, and Olga Samkova, who finished tenth.
The men's event was similarly close. Italy’s Giovanni de Gennaro held onto first place by just eleven hundredths of a second ahead of Great Britain’s Joseph Clarke. “I’m surprised. I have to say my goal was simply to make the top ten, and for the first time I managed a run where I felt I had answered all the questions the course posed. I’m really happy about it. To be honest, I went into it without any goal of winning a medal. I just raced, treating it as a challenge and another learning experience. And in the end, it turned into a gold medal here in Prague,” the Italian said with a smile. Third place went to Germany’s Marten Konrad, who started with the high bib number 61.
Among the Czech men, Matyas Novak placed ninth in the time trial, Vit Prindis finished 13th, and Jakub Krejci advanced to the knockout rounds from the 15th place.