Kayaker Florence Maheu was looking forward to the start of the whitewater World Cup season, which kicked off on Friday in Prague, Czech Republic. However, the Quebecer was far from suspecting that her first outing of the campaign would be marred by illness.
Posted at 2:19 p.m.
After spending the last week preparing for qualifying, the athlete from Salaberry-de-Valleyfield was ready to face the waters of the Vltava River. Symptoms resembling those of a cold, however, complicated things less than 24 hours from the start of the races.
Despite her state of health, Florence Maheu made a point of starting for the two heats of the qualifying session, which she was able to do following a negative antigen test for COVID-19. However, the damage was already done and she could not do better than a 51e place on its first pass, before taking the 22e rank in the second round.
“I did what I could today (Friday) because I was sick all night and had a high fever. It is certain that I am disappointed with my performance, but in the circumstances, I really gave everything I had. It’s a shame, because I had prepared well for the race and everything really started on Thursday evening, ”commented the one who finished just over 20 seconds from a place in the next lap.
The 20 best competitors of the first run, as well as the top-10 of the second run obtained their ticket for the semi-finals scheduled for Saturday.
Florence Maheu will therefore take advantage of the next few days to recover her health and prepare for the next World Cup which will be played in Krakow, Poland, starting next Friday.