Lausanne, August 22, 2013: Jessica Fox, the effervescent 19-year-old from Australia, is all set to steal the show following her dominant and historic double last weekend in Tacen, Slovenia when she became the first women to win both the K1 and C1 at the same event.
This performance puts Fox in an almost unassailable lead in the Women’s C1, with Katerina Hoskova of the Czech Republic the only athlete able to catch her in the overall standings.
However, Hoskova has form in Bratislava and in 2011 became the Women’s C1 World Champion on the same stretch of water. But, it seems unlikely she will be able to make up 56-point deficit that is required to take a step higher than Fox on the podium this Sunday.
The Women’s K1 tells a different story with six athletes split by just 33-points making it one of the most open events of the weekend.
Despite being third in the standings Slovakia’s Jana Dukatova is possibly the favourite to take the series, due to her local knowledge and the fact that she has medalled almost every time she has competed in Bratislava. Get set for a tense crescendo.
Local heroes, the Hochschorner brothers, will be disappointed that their non-attendance in Tacen last week means that they will be unable to close the 81-point gap to the leaders they require to secure their 11th Men’s C1 ICF World Cup Series title in a row.
This years series title is set to either go to the French duo, Matthieu Peche and Gauthier Klauss, or Slovenia’s Saso Taljat and Luka Bozic.
Only 16 points split the top three in the Men’s C1 standings. Anze Bercic (SLO) currently resides in top position, but Olympic Silver medalist Sideris Tasiadis (GER) and Matej Beňuš (SVK) will certainly be in contention for top honours.
Interestingly, Slovakia’s Michal Martikan will make his 2013 season debut and will hope to make an instant impression. The London 2012 Olympic C1 Men’s Bronze medal winner will certainly be a contender on his home water and adds an extra dimension to the exceptionally tight Men’s C1 discipline.
Fabian Doerfler heads a three-pronged German assault on the K1 leaders board. However, Peter Kauzer’s (SLO) phenomenal display last week gives him an outside chance. He stands 30-points behind Doefler (193), with Sebatian Schubert (180) and Hannes Aigner (177) in between.
The action gets underway with heats on the Friday and semi-finals and finals on Saturday (C1M, K1M, C1W) and Sunday (C2M, K1W). —- ICF
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