Two Germans paddled into the final of the new Olympic discipline of kayak cross. Funk was in tears again.
Elena Lilik and Noah Hegge from Augsburg have made it to the finals at the Olympic premiere of the new discipline kayak cross. The 25-year-old, who had already won silver in the Canadian canoe, initially only came fourth in the semi-finals. But her opponents Carole Diane Bouzidi from Algeria and New Zealander Luuka Jones made a mistake, so Lilik still made it through after a check. Hegge then paddled into the semi-finals as quarter-final winner.
Before that, Lilik excelled in the course of the eight goal posts filled with water at the Stade nautique de Vaires-sur-Marne in the quarterfinals and came first. At the same time, she eliminated the French co-favorite Camille Prigent in her heat, who let her tears flow in front of over 10,000 spectators.
Tokyo Olympic champion Ricarda Funk again shed bitter tears after missing out on a medal in the kayak after a mistake at the third-to-last gate. In her quarter-final, she only had a mediocre start and was unable to make up the deficit at the first up-gate, as she also collided with the Spaniard Maialen Chourraut and hit her boat in the face. The 32-year-old also lost a point for not entering a gate correctly and was eliminated in fourth place. “The whole week was brutal, actually every day was painful. This is kayak cross, it’s a brutal sport,” said Funk.
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Source: Stern
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