Kayak men miss the Olympics
“Shocked” canoe association suffers shipwreck at World Cup
September 24, 2023, 12:53 p.m
Ten months before the Olympic Games, the German Canoe Association’s boats are in crisis. The World Cup in London went terribly wrong. Head coach Klaus Pohlen is shocked and makes a clear announcement.
Metal instead of medals, tears instead of triumphs: The German slalom canoeists suffered shipwreck at the World Championships in Lee Valley, Great Britain, and experienced a sporting disaster. Head coach Klaus Pohlen’s team was unable to win a medal in any slalom discipline. In the kayak men’s division, Germany will even be completely absent from the Olympic Games next summer.
“We are a bit shocked,” said Pohlen: “We now have to turn over every stone and ask ourselves whether we did everything right in the preparation. Nobody was able to perform at their best.” The German Canoe Association (DKV) expected good chances for the World Cup. But neither Olympic champion Ricarda Funk nor former world champions Andrea Herzog, Elena Lilik and Sideris Tasiadis took podium places. On the contrary.
Funk missed her title hat trick in the kayak after a driving error at gate six. In the end, the Bad Kreuznacher was 1.14 seconds short of a medal and came seventh. Lilik, fourth the day before in the Canadian, missed the final after capsizing at the last gate.
Last chance in Prague
The World Championships in north London were even more disappointing for the kayak men led by Olympic bronze medalist Hannes Aigner. Both the man from Augsburg and Stefan Hengst missed the final and thus the quota place for the DKV at the Olympics in Paris. Defending champion Herzog also missed the final in the Canadian single sculls due to a driving error.
Thanks to the final participation of Funk and Lilik, who became world champion under her maiden name Apel in 2021, as well as canoe world champion Tasiadis, who was replaced in Lee Valley, the DKV secured at least three tickets for Paris 2024. The kayak men have one last remaining at the World Cup in Prague Chance to at least qualify for the Olympics in kayak cross.
There was no medal for the DKV in the non-Olympic team competitions at the start of the World Cup. In the canoe, women and men came sixth, and in the kayak, things went even worse for women (8th) and men (7th). Pohlen then referred to the individual runs. “The world will look different again,” said the coach – and was bitterly disappointed.