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Joe Clarke and Kimberley Woods emerged from kayak cross chaos with silver and bronze medals respectively as the wet and wild, winner-takes-all discipline enjoyed an Olympic debut to remember in front of over 10,000 fans in Vaires-sur-Marne.
Clarke, a three-time world champion, saw his gold medal hopes sent flying when he was barged off the ramp in the men’s race by his German rival Noah Hegge, but he regrouped to take second place behind New Zealand’s Finn Butcher.
Moments earlier, Woods’ decision to go for broke almost cost her a place on the podium as she sunk from second place to fourth and last before a late twist saw Germany’s Elena Lilik disqualified and gave the 28-year-old her second bronze medal of the Games.
The no-holds-barred sport, in which everything bar dangerous contact is allowed, sends four competing racers off a high ramp simultaneously and pitches them down a broiling 200-metre course involving a series of gates and an obligatory eskimo roll.
Woods, who had kept out of danger and cruised through her previous heats, made a strong start but a bid to effectively take out her Australian rival, Noemi Fox, almost backfired. Fox went on to win gold while Woods crossed the line in the mistaken belief that she had missed out on a medal.
“There was a moment on gate seven where I thought I could just go for silver, but I thought, I’m in the Olympic final guys, I’m going to go for gold,” said Woods, who had already picked up a bronze medal in the solo K1 category earlier in the Games.
“I’ve been in races where I’ve settled for silver, made the decision to play it safe. But I didn’t want to do that. It’s once every four years and I’m a brave person in and out of the boat. I wanted to showcase that. I went for it and got a little bit caught out.”
Clarke had looked set to defy the sport’s inherent unpredictability as he swept comfortably through his quarter and semi-finals, albeit finishing top in the former only because the Spanish winner, Manuel Ochoa, was disqualified.
But Clarke found himself nudged sideways by Germany’s Hegge as they entered the water – perfectly legally – giving an early advantage to New Zealand’s Finn Butcher who never let it slip, with Clarke having to content himself with surging down in hot pursuit.
“I’ll be honest with you, I came into this event wanting to win gold but that didn’t happen today,” conceded Clarke, who was forced to settle for a fifth place finish last week when bidding to defend his Rio 2016 individual title.
I've been in races where I've settled for silver, made the decision to play it safe. But I didn't want to do that. It's once every four years and I'm a brave person in and out of the boat. I wanted to showcase that— Kimberley Woods
“I’m not disappointed in any way. A silver medal is absolutely massive, and I’m very proud how I put myself about throughout the competition. It was quite off-putting to have that straight off the ramp but you have to deal with these things and I think I refocused pretty well.”
Woods’ team-mate Mallory Franklin finished second in her quarter-final but was one of a number of athletes to be disqualified after crossing the line for any number of infringements, including failing to correctly exit gates or not delivering the required eskimo roll at the right time.
Kayak cross’ short and often riotous battles brought the capacity crowd to its feet, and their reaction mirrored the response to the respective introductions of snowboard cross and ski cross in recent Winter Olympic cycles.
Both Woods and Clarke have no doubts about the impact of Olympic inclusion on a discipline that has often been disregarded by purists, but is evidently here to stay.
“It’s had its ups and downs over the years and a lot of people have criticised it, saying it looks silly, but it’s absolutely incredible, the atmosphere is insane and it’s an amazing thing to be a part of,” said Woods.
“It’s absolutely brilliant,” concurred Clarke. “I’m probably biased when I say I think kayaking is the best sport in the world and kayak cross is hopefully going to get kayaking out there to the masses.
“It’s a great package for TV. There’s lots of things we can do with this sport and hopefully we can really propel that and get more bums in boats and basically make this sport bigger.”
