Kudějová won the K1 women semi-final
The Sunday morning (20) at the 2020 ECA European Canoe Slalom Championships in Prague belonged to the semi-finals. First on the start lists were the women kayakers. The course 250m long had the 20 paddlers on the start list also with the quartet of Czech competitors including the defending European champions Amálie Hilgertová and the Tokyo Olympian Kateřina Kudějová.
The fastest semi-final run was performed by the home paddler Kateřina Kudějová who will be accompanied in the final also with the three other Czechs.
“The course is really tough but it is also a bit nicer comparing to the qualification course. The run was much smoother so it is good that there were those changes. I think I still have some space to push the time lower in the final. If I manage it well, I think the time around 112 seconds would be fine,” said Hilgertová, who showed 116.27s and took fourth place with a clear run.
Veronika Vojtová was the next competitor but she did not avoid a mistake alredy on the gate number 2. The final time 122.48 did not make her feel satisfied and was not sure about the final spot. In the end, it was enough for the qualification from the last – tenth place.
“It was a crucial touch for my run. I was trying to focus and get some seconds back,” said Vojtová.
Antonie Galušková, for who it is her premiere in the senior team, showed a balanced performance. Despite the fact that she had one touch on the gate 12, she achieved 119.99 and got the spot in the final this afternoon. “I was quite calm on the start. I have to admit I was much more nervous yesterday. The course was very technical and physically demanding. But we analysed it a lot and we had the whole day for that so I managed it almost as we planned,” stated Galušková.
The final spot also for the experienced Austrian Corinna Kuhnle, who had a huge trouble already on the first gate and struggled a lot on number 3. But she managed 120.21s and secured her spot in the final.
Photo: Jan Homolka