(Montreal) Disappointed with her performance in slalom at the Whitewater Canoe-Kayak World Championships, Florence Maheu was able to bounce back in kayak cross on Sunday. The kayaker reached the quarter-finals and ranked 16th in this event which will be added to the Olympic program in Paris.
Maheu initially finished 33rd in qualifying. By obtaining the best Canadian result in this round, just ahead of her compatriot Lois Betteridge, the athlete from Salaberry-de-Valleyfield obtained her pass to the elimination rounds.
She sat in fourth place for most of the race on the first lap. While Briton Nikita Setchell raced towards an unequivocal victory, Maheu maneuvered well at the last buoy and moved up to third place. New Zealander Luuka Jones, then second, was disqualified and the Quebecer took the opportunity to advance to the next round.
In the quarter-final, Maheu was again opposed to Setchell, as well as the British Kimberley Woods, silver medalist at the 2022 world championships, and the French Emma Vuitton.
She was in third place at the halfway point when she was overtaken while rounding the fifth buoy, leading to a fourth place finish.
“I would have liked to do better in the quarter-finals, but it is a fairly unpredictable event and I am satisfied to have been able to gain experience in the elimination rounds,” Maheu shared with Sportcom. I feel progress. The boats change quickly, the paddles too, so we try to adapt as quickly as possible [to the equipment]. »
Kimberley Woods was crowned world champion a little later. She beat Frenchwoman Camille Prigent and Slovenian Eva Tercelj in the final.
On Thursday, Maheu was stopped in the slalom qualifications by finishing 64th and 26th in her two runs. Australian Jessica Fox won gold two days later ahead of Slovakian Eliska Mintalova (1.13 seconds) and Polish Klaudia Zwolinska (1.40 seconds).
“It’s definitely a disappointment in slalom. The qualifying course was not very difficult and the times were very tight to reach the semi-final. It’s disappointing not to have been able to do a slightly faster round, mentioned Florence Maheu. In kayak cross, I made some adjustments to my equipment before the worlds and I’m super happy that it paid off. My goal was to advance to the first round, so a top 16 at the worlds meets my expectations. »