Kayaker Florence Maheu reached the kayak cross elimination bracket for the first time on Sunday at the World Cup in Ljubljana, Slovenia.
The Salaberry-de-Valleyfield athlete started the day with a time of 56.29 s, good for the 22e ranking of the qualifications for this event, which will make its debut on the Olympic program in Paris.
The top 32 competitors secured their ticket to the heats, which Maheu had been unable to accomplish in the first two World Cups of the season.
“I had a good ramp jump and after that I made a small mistake on the line and got stuck in a whirlwind. Tacen water is pretty turbulent, but the rest of my run was fine! Shared Florence Maheu at Sportcom.
In the first elimination round, she faced Australians Noemie Fox and Georgia O’Callaghan as well as Slovenian Eva Alina Hocevar.
The Quebecer managed to get back into the race after a bad start. The fight was close and the officials had to rely on the video replay to determine the first two places, which would advance to the second round. In the end, it was the two representatives of Australia who qualified.
“I got a little trapped in the middle of the start and I wasn’t able to put in good paddle strokes. I was fourth and I passed on the last ascent until the final sprint, I was very close to finishing second,” said Maheu, who plans to build on this first qualifying race in kayak cross.
“It’s not a very predictable event and it’s not easy to train for these races. My goal is really to improve my time trial in order to qualify more often for the elimination table, to have the chance to find myself in these situations and gain experience. »
Czech Veronika Vojtova triumphed in the grand final ahead of Slovenian Eva Tercelj and Australian Jessica Fox.
Friday, Florence Maheu was stopped in qualifying for the K1 slalom event. She finished 30e of the first round and 18e of the second.
Costly penalties kept her from hoping for a bye to the semi-finals.
“There are good things to remember, the speed is there, however I have to work on my consistency,” she concluded.