They plunged down a 45‑degree ramp and three metres into the maelstrom below, battling the elements and grappling Gladiators-style with their rivals. Through the foamy bedlam there was to be no gold medal for Team GB with Joe Clarke and Kimberley Woods emerging with silver and bronze respectively, but kayak cross is surely here to stay after arriving at the Olympics with a resounding splash.
“We’re just getting started here, aren’t we?” said Clarke, who had been favoured to win the men’s final but trailed New Zealand’s Finn Butcher throughout that minute or so of fight and froth. The 2016 slalom gold winner, who finished fifth in that event last week, is back at the top and voiced few regrets. After the medal ceremony he lifted his young son, Hugo, aloft and told everyone who would listen of his desire for this discipline to push kayaking into the wider consciousness.
