The 2010 ICF Canoe Slalom World Cup Makes its Way to Augsburg

The third 2010 ICF Canoe Slalom World Cup will round up this year's competitions. A tough course, the stretch of water is swift and merciless and even the best of paddlers have to push beyond their limits.

At the outset, the first gate at Augsburg is an upstream gate off the first drop, it’s perfectly positioned along the right-hand wall and is ideal at fouling the unprepared and unlucky. In order to navigate this, the athlete must first achieve the right combination of speed and angle. The margin for error is small and the fact that the water moves inconsistently and irregularly makes for exciting races.

In last year's World Cup in Augsburg, Tony Estanguet (FRA) secured the gold medal after a fast and near perfect run. Behind him were two Germans, Sideris Tasiadis and Jan Benzien collecting the silver and the bronze.

Estanguet is no stranger to Augsburg, despite this and his gold medal, he said, "…it is a difficult river to adapt to and learn from. Every time it’s the same story and the same mistakes." Speaking a year later, Tony Estanguet will also be there this weekend, "I have competed in Augsburg many times. I'm not really at ease in this place. It is hard to be consistent and regular because the water is constantly changing. After participating many times, I finally won once in the 2009 World Cup. Impossible is nothing!"

In last year's Men's C2, the gold went to Marcus Becker and Stefan Henze (GER). Their performance so far in 2010, added to the fact that this is their home course, prove they are real contenders for gold this weekend. The Hochschorners took silver here last year and, while they took silver in Prague three weeks ago, their performance last weekend in La Seu is a sign that they are not the default winners.

To highlight the difficulty of the course French pair Fabien Lefevre and Denis Gargaud Chanut took a plunge after colliding with an obstacle at last year's event. "It’s the first time in 20 years I have capsized in a final," Lefevre said, "it just shows you it can happen to anyone."

In the Men's K1 last year, Peter Kauzer (SLO) won the gold after a fantastic final run. Local legend, Alexander Grimm (GER) took silver medal, while Daniel Molmenti (ITA) placed third. Molmenti's 2010 season has been superb so far, could this be a three out of three for him this weekend? Also looking good is Michael Kurt from Switzerland; he has two medals so far but will there be space for him on the podium this weekend as his German competitor, Alexander Grimm races on home turf?

In last year's Women’s K1, Jana Dukatova (SVK) performed a superb and incredibly fast run and was presented with last year's World Cup Gold. Stepanka Hilgertova (CZE) took the silver while Jennifer Bongardt (GER) was awarded the bronze. After her winning race Dukatova said "The course in Augsburg is unique; there really is nothing else like it in the world. The Germans obviously have the home advantage, but this just makes the visiting nations all the more determined.

The course is difficult to adapt to, the upstream manoeuvres are incredibly narrow and unforgiving." Looking forward to this year's Augsburg World Cup, she said recently, "For me, Augsburg Eiskanal is always the course with best racing atmosphere. I like to race there. In addition, Augsburg was where I raced my first World Cup in 2002."

The Women's C1 has also proved to be a great competition this year, the fight between Australia and China is set to continue while Jana Dukatova's great performance last weekend in La Seu also puts her up there as a contender in the canoe just as much as in the kayak.

Keep watching www.canoeicf.com for daily news and live results.

The official event website is www.kanu-schwabenaugsburg.de.

For more information contact: Joanna Greenfield at joanna.greenfield@canoeicf.com

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