GB canoeists miss out on medals

EUROPEAN CANOE SLALOM CHAMPIONSHIPS
Venue: Holme Pierrepont, Nottingham Dates: 28-31 May
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Britain's David Florence and Campbell Walsh missed opportunities to claim more medals on the final day of the canoe slalom European Championships.

Florence failed to make the top three of the men's C1 class in front of a home crowd at Nottingham's Holme Pierrepont course.

Walsh and GB team-mate Huw Swetnam came fourth and eighth in their K1 final.

Great Britain ended the competition with two gold medals, won by their men's and women's K1 teams on Saturday.

Elsewhere in the four-day competition, the men's C2 team - which included Florence - won a silver medal, and the C2 pair of Tim Baillie and Etienne Stott claimed bronze.

Florence had looked in fine form during Sunday morning's semi-finals, posting a penalty-free run to qualify fourth-fastest.

But C1 team-mate Mark Proctor, one of the first out on the course, finished 15th and missed the final.

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"Molmenti gets dunked in the water by his competitors as his win is confirmed - some great pics of that coming up"

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Florence, buoyed by home support, improved on his semi-final time in the final but, having finished in third place with three rivals still to run, could only watch from his boat as he was pushed out of the medals.

"I made errors in the same place on every run," said a disappointed Florence.

The 26-year-old finished in fifth place in a time of 98.02 seconds, while Slovakian Olympic champion Michal Martikan won with a flawless run of 95.66 secs, ahead of compatriot Alexander Slafkovsky.

In the K1, Walsh breezed through the semi-final as the second-fastest paddler, while Huw Swetnam produced a superb run to finish fifth, sending two British kayakers through to the final.

Yet Walsh, like Florence, seemed unable to find the extra gear required to excel in the final, incurring no penalties but failing to break into the top three.

The European K1 title was won by Italy's Daniele Molmenti in a time of 92.49, with French pair Boris Neveu and Julien Billaut finishing second and third in times of 92.93 and 93.43 respectively.

Walsh was fourth in a time of 96.13, while Swetnam finished eighth in 100.21 once four penalty points had been taken into account.

606: DEBATE

" Commiserations to David Florence, Campbell Walsh, and the men's C1 team, who all came so close but I believe we will see improvement from these competitors in the next few years "

"It's my best result, I've only ever made one final in the senior circuit before, so I'm getting better," said Swetnam.

Fellow Briton Richard Hounslow, who had reached the semi-final as the fastest K1 competitor in qualifying, endured a torrid run and crashed out in 19th place.

Attention now turns to Spain, where canoe slalom's world championships are due to be held in September.

Results

Men's C1 final:

1. Michal Martikan (Svk) 95.66 seconds

2. Alexander Slafkovsky (Svk) 96.26

3. Jan Benzien (Ger) 97.51

5. David Florence (GB) 98.02

Men's K1 final:

1. Daniele Molmenti (Ita) 92.49

2. Boris Neveu (Fra) 92.93

3. Julien Billaut (Fra) 93.43

4. Campbell Walsh (GB) 96.13

8. Huw Swetnam (GB) 100.21

RELATED INTERNET LINKS:
BBC Sport Canoeing page
GB Canoeing
British Canoe Union
Slalom Europeans 2009
European Canoe Association
International Canoe Federation
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