The morning saw the awesome finals racing spectacle for U23 Mens and Womens C1, Mens K1, Junior Mens and Womens C1, and Mens K1 top 10 individuals battling it out for world championship honours. There were amazing runs for our team to watch on the Kolna course as the medals were decided.
After the lunch break the rain came in as our teams prepared to take on the challenge against other nations on the semi-finals course. First Kiwis to go were Patrick, James & Callum in U23 C1 who gave a stout performance to the umbrella welding spectators finishing in 14th place.
Next Finn, Theo and Callum did a tidy and efficient run down the course with some nice weaving thru the upstream gates resulting in a 15th placing.
Then it was the junior boys with Callum Aitken in the lead, Josh second and Otis bringing up the rear. That race started OK but began to unravel when Otis rolled just above the bridge. A little further down Callum also rolled but, not to be outdone, Otis did 2 more rolls in quick succession with some 50s thrown in by Callum and Otis for good measure. By this time the commentator got quite excited at the freestyle component of the run and spectators were reaching for the video buttons on their phones.
The Junior K1 run by Zac, Callum and Otis was more conventional but a 50 second penalty saw them well down the scoreboard with a number of other countries teams who also 50ed including Slovakia and Italy. It was a relief to head back to the hotel to warm up and dry out.
