Great Britain’s Joe Clarke won a first World Cup gold medal of the season as he claimed victory in the kayak cross final in Germany.
The 33-year-old benefited from the misfortune of compatriot Ben Haylett, who had crossed the line ahead of the pack in his first World Cup final, but was penalised for a fault and dropped down to fourth place.
“It was hard earned, there was a lot of scrapping out there,” said Clarke, whose success moved him second in the overall World Cup kayak cross standings – a point behind leader, Slovenian teenager Ziga Lin Hocevar.
He claimed his first World Cup medal 12 years ago in Augsburg and won the second of his four kayak cross world titles at the same venue in 2022.
Clarke added: “It wasn’t the usual style of win that I go for, the ‘fly out the blocks and stay out front’, but it was special to be on the start line with Ben.
“I’m hungry for more [at the World Championships] in Oklahoma. I know everyone will up their level even more, so the next few weeks are about refining our processes and hopefully the outcome will take care of itself.”
Fellow Briton Adam Burgess won a silver medal in Augsburg in the men’s canoe slalom, with Italian Raffaello Ivaldi beating him to the gold by just 0.07 seconds.