HANNAH CRAIG FINISHED in 10th place in the Women’s K1 Slalom Final as the Gold Medal went to Emilie Fer of France.
The 29-year-old did fantastically to make it into the top 10 but failed to pick up the pace in her final run.
She picked up early penalties to put her under immediate pressure and seemed resigned to her fate as she negotiated the last four gates.
Craig, who picked up three penalties that added six seconds to her time, clocked at time of 1:27.36 to briefly lead but the competitors that followed all surpassed that mark.
Fer put in a flawless run to capture gold while Jessica Fox of Australia got silver. Maialen Chourraut of Spain took home the bronze.
Strong semi run
Craig made to wait until the end of the second to last run before she could celebrate qualification for the Women’s K1 Slalom Final.
The Antrim kayaker set a competitive time of 1:16.12, with a two-second penalty picked up for brushing a gate.
The beginning to her run seemed cautious but Craig picked up the pace in the middle stages before being briefly slowed in negotiating two of the last three gates.
She then had to sit back and watch as her time was bettered by fine runs by Emilie Fer, Jessica Fox and others.
It was not looking good for Craig as she sat in ninth with two competitors, home favourite Lizzie Neave and world number two Maialen Chourraut, to go.
However Neave picked up six penalties after a scattered run – finishing with a time of 1:17.30.
It was just as well, for Craig, as Chourraut came in with the second best run. The semi-final was eventually won by Natalia Pacierpnik of Poland.
The final at Lee Valley White Water Centre starts at 4pm on Thursday afternoon.
Legend. This girls gonna be special.
@Eoin Fitzgerald: she already is
@Thomas Paine: she will only get better with age
Mind blown – that is incredible. Well done.
Maybe if I add a fall into my 5km I’d go faster..?
@Augustus hoop: I’d need to accidentally fall into a car
An outstanding achievement. But she needs to be coached correctly and not pushed too hard too soon. She is after all a child and needs to develop and train as a child and not as an adult. If she is pushed too hard now, she will get injured, burn out and have nowhere to step up to in the coming years, and will ultimately fall out of love with the sport.
@Niall Hearty: Thank you Captain Buzzkill
@Niall Hearty: Yeah, thats what happened to me when I was 5.
Insane
Brilliant stuff. One for the future