There will be new winners in every Slalom World Cup race this weekend, as all of the winners from the Lee Valley (GBR) opener will be skipping the second stage, being held in Bratislava (SVK).
That means more medals for a very good field which has assembled to tackle a very difficult course at the Bratislava Whitwater Channel. The headline entries include 10 Olympic and/or World Champions:
Men:
● Michal Martikan (SVK) ~ 1996-2008 Olympic C-1 gold; 2017 Worlds C-1 bronze
● Franz Anton (GER) ~ 2018 C-1 World Champion
● Benjamin Savsek (SLO) ~ 2017 C-1 World Champion
● Alexander Slafkovsky (SVK) ~ 2017 C-1 Worlds silver medalist
● Matej Benus (CZE) ~ 2016 Olympic C-1 silver medalist
● Denis Gargaud Chanut (FRA) ~ 2016 Olympic C-1 gold medalist
● Boris Neveu (FRA) ~ 2014 Worlds K-1 Champion
● Hannes Aigner (GER) ~ 2012 Olympic K-1 bronze; 2018 World Champion
● Peter Kauzer (SLO) ~ 2016 Olympic K-1 silver; 2017 Worlds bronze medalist
● Jiri Prskevic (CZE) ~ 2016 Olympic K-1 bronze; 2018 Worlds silver medalist
● Vit Prindis (CZE) ~ 2017 World K-1 Championships silver medalist
● Vavrinec Hradilek (CZE) ~ 2012 Olympic K-1 silver medalist
Women:
● Jessica Fox (AUS) ~ 2018 World C-1 Champion; 2012 Olympic K-1 silver; ‘16 K-1 bronze
● Ricarda Funk (GER) ~ 2015 Worlds K-1 silver; 2017 Worlds K-1 bronze
● Corinna Kuhnle (AUT) ~ 2010-11 Worlds K-1 gold medalist
● Maialen Chourraut (FRA) ~ 2016 Olympic K-1 gold; 2012 Olympic K-1 bronze
● Luka Jones (NZL) ~ 2016 Olympic K-1 silver medalist
● Jana Dukatova (SVK) ~ 2006 Worlds K-1 Champion; 2010 Worlds C-1 Champion
● Nuria Villarrubla (ESP) ~ 2015 World C-1 Championships bronze
● Nadine Weratschnig (AUT) ~ 2017 European C-1 Champion
● Ana Satila (BRA) ~ 2017 Worlds C-1 bronze medalist
● Tereza Fiserova (CZE) ~ 2017 Worlds C-1 silver; 2018 Worlds C-1 bronze
Australia’s Fox, who doubled in the C-1 and K-1 in the first three World Cups last year, will be looking to get back on top after penalties hurt her in Lee Valley. She finished third in both the C-1 and K-1.
The competition begins with heats on Friday and finals concluding on Sunday. Look for results here.
