Olympics: kayak cross 🥈🥉🇬🇧

John and I both paddle kayaks… John more often and to a better level than me… so when we were deciding what sports we’d like to see live at the Olympics, kayaking was high on the list. Kayak cross is in the Olympics for the first time this year and we were made up to get tickets for this event at the first attempt.

Kayak cross takes place on an artificial white-water course. Four paddlers race simultaneously, having dropped into the water from a 2 metre high ramp when the starting buzzing sounds. They have to roll their kayak then navigate through a series of gates (6 downstream and 2 upstream).

The event was at 15.30, so we spent the morning doing our washing, preparing the bikes, and getting everything we needed together. We then cycled the 10 miles to the nautical stadium at Vaires-sue-Marne, following the River Marne and stopping to look at a sculpture park en route.

In Vaires-sur-Marne, we parked our bikes in the secure bike park… the organisation at the games is excellent… and made our way into the stadium. The sun was beating down so we picked up a couple of ice creams and filled our water bottles before heading into the stands to find our seats.

Our seats were excellent, right at the top of the stand where we had a wonderful view of the course. The only thing we couldn’t see well was the starting ramp, but we could watch the start on the big screen until the paddlers rounded the corner towards us. Where we were, we could also feel the breeze and we were able to use an umbrella for shade. Perfect!

We saw the quarter finals (4 heats, 2/4 paddlers from each heat through), semi finals (2 heats, 2/4 through), the small final (for paddlers who hadn’t reach the final) and then the final for both women and men. That’s 16 races in all, coming one after the other. The racing was fast and furious, and really exciting. We clapped all the paddlers but, of course, shouted loudest for the GB competitors.

In each heat, we watched as the paddlers jostled for position, rolling their kayaks then negotiating the gates. Sometimes paddlers would push each other off a gate, fighting for a place in the next round or, finally, for a medal. Sometimes they even ended up across each others’ boats… the racing was absolute chaos at times!

Unfortunately, one of our GB paddlers, Mallory Franklin, went out of the competition in the quarter finals because she failed to complete her roll within the allocated section of the course. However, both Joe Clarke and Kimberley Woods progressed to the final.

Kim was in the silver medal position at the last gate in the final but, in a tussle for gold, lost momentum and ended up with bronze instead. Joe didn’t have a good start in his final race, but managed to fight back and claim silver. Both still fantastic, well deserved results for all their hard work. It was wonderful to see two Brits win medals at a live event, and the Union flag raised twice. I hope they could hear us cheering and clapping for them. 🥉🥈🇬🇧