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World Champion Andrea Herzog at the competitions in Augsburg
Photo: Matthias Hangst / Getty Images
The two Olympic bronze medalists from Tokyo, Andrea Herzog and Sideris Tasiadis, won the Canadian canoe titles at the Canoe Slalom World Championships in Augsburg.
The 22-year-old from Leipzig turned up the heat in the last part of the run on the ice channel and, despite touching the pole, triumphed with a lead of 0.92 seconds over top favorite Jessica Fox from Australia.
For her it was the second title at world championships after 2019.
“It's unbelievable.
I can't believe it happened," said Herzog: "Winning a medal in front of your own audience is awesome." After a risky run, Tasiadis from Augsburg sat down 1.18 seconds ahead of Slovakian Alexander Slafkovsky through and won his first world championship gold on his home track.
Former world champion Franz Anton won bronze, 1.61 seconds behind.
In the women's category, defending champion Elena Lilik surprisingly failed one day after the bronze medal in kayaking, coming 16th in the semifinals.
'I kind of didn't get in properly,' said Lilik, 'I don't know why, but it was tough after Saturday.
I didn't feel like shit in terms of power, I had problems with concentration.
But I had my magic moment.« On Saturday, Lilik finished third in the triumph of her teammate Ricarda Funk.
Successful title fights for the German canoeists
In general, it was a successful title fight for the German Canoe Association (DKV): On Wednesday, Funk had led the kayak team with Lilik and Jasmin Schornberg to the gold medal in the first competition.
The kayak men around the Olympic bronze medalist Hannes Aigner also secured victory without any mistakes.
There was also silver for the Canadian women around Herzog and Lilik.
The first home world championship in 19 years had been on the brink due to low water, only short-term construction work on the Olympic course from 1972 brought some relief.
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