(Montreal) New season, new approach for kayaker Florence Maheu. Stopped in the slalom qualifications at the first World Cup of 2023 on Thursday, the Quebecer intends to progress to the worlds to present herself there at the top of her game in September.
The last time Maheu paddled the Olympic Channel in Augsburg, Germany was just under a year ago at the most recent World Championships. She was then unable to pass the qualifications.
On Thursday, she entered the K1 event 46th in the first lap with a cumulative 167.56s. She made three mistakes that added two seconds each, then missed a gate at the end of the course, which penalized her hard by 50 seconds.
The Tokyo Games Olympian posted a time of 121.87s on her second run to take 22nd place. However, only the top ten competitors of this round advanced to the semi-finals to join the top 20 of the initial round.
“I had a little more control in the second run, but a mistake cost me a lot of time in the middle,” she said. For me, the first World Cups are really just trying to find some rhythm and apply the changes that I have implemented in training this winter. »
At the heart of these changes is the desire to be more combative on the water. Florence Maheu expects to have earlier success in qualifying.
“I used to be pretty passive and now I have to push more to get into the top-20 in the first run. […] The second leg is definitely more difficult since only ten boats make it through to the semi-finals, but that’s precisely what I’m working on, which is to stay focused on my objective without overdoing it and keep it simple,” she explained.
Ukraine’s Viktoriia Us was the fastest in qualifying, closely followed by Germany’s Elena Lilik and Ricarda Funk. The semi-finals and finals will take place on Friday.
Even if her preparation is focused on the worlds scheduled for London in September, Florence Maheu hopes to get up again next week in the Czech Republic. Until then, she will be in the kayak cross event on Sunday, a novelty on the Paris Olympic program.
“I can’t wait, I changed boats last week, there’s a lot of progress in the equipment, so we’re testing to see what’s fastest,” said the two-time medalist. silver from the Pan Am Championships last month.
“My goal is to make it through the qualifying round to do the duels. It won’t be easy, because the course is really simple and you have to give it your all physically. The times are very tight and only 32 girls advance to the next round. »
