Tough finish for consistent Gilbert



 
 
Kiwi kayaker Callum Gilbert has agonisingly missed out on another semifinal appearance at the latest World Cup canoe slalom round in Slovenia.

The Tauranga paddler cut his first gate too fine in his first run and was given a 50sec penalty for missing it, though he powered through the next 20 gates to post a slick raw time of 88.00secs.
That would’ve been good enough for 27th-fastest and automatic qualification for tomorrow’s semifinals, were it not for the penalty.

On a rainy day in Tacen, Gilbert also clipped an early gate in his second run too, with the subsequent 2sec penalty dropping him from seventh to 12th, with only the top-10 making it past the repechage.
“It not my day - the course was actually pretty straight-forward but I managed to make it difficult in both runs!” Gilbert lamented.  “The first run was super good, other than the first gate, but the second run was no good at all despite the time.”

The 22-year-old ended up as New Zealand’s sole competitor when 18-year-old teammate Zack Mutton pulled out of his World Cup debut after suffering illness all week.  It also ends Gilbert’s European season, as he missed selection for the fifth World Cup and the world championships later this month in Brazil.

However, he’s been the best-performing Kiwi K1 male so far, making semifinals in Poland and Germany and only just missing the top-40 in the opening round in Slovakia.  He’s currently 52nd in the world rankings, the second New Zealander behind Mike Dawson (26th).

“I’ve seen some definite progress this season and I’m feeling confident about next year. Things are starting to come together and I just need to figure out how to put my best foot forward more regularly.”

Hometown knowledge, meanwhile, helped Slovenia’s Zan Jakse take a surprise top spot in the men’s K1 qualifying. Jakse, who lives just minutes from the Tacen course, finished 0.11 seconds ahead of Czech Jiri Prskavec.

Prskavec currently sits second in the overall World Cup standings, but is still to win gold this season.
And Australia’s Jessica Fox has already created history in 2018 but showed every sign that her total domination of canoe slalom this year may extend into a fourth weekend.

The two-time Olympic medallist is unbeaten in both the women’s K1 and C1 this year, winning golden doubles in Liptovsky, Krakow and Augsburg, a record without peer in the history of both men’s and women’s paddling.

The 24-year-old safely navigated her way into both the K1 and C1 semi-finals this weekend too, seventh-quickest behind Germany’s Ricarda Funk in the K1, and five seconds quicker than the next best in the C1.
 
Caption: Tauranga kayaker Callum Gilbert has finished his World Cup canoe slalom campaign after narrowly missing the semifinals of the latest round in Slovenia.  Photo by Jamie Troughton/Dscribe Media
Kayak