Reid steps things up to claim World Cup bronze

Dunfermline’s Katie Reid took Great Britain’s second medal of the Canoe Sprint World Cup in Duisburg with bronze in the women’s C1 200m.

The 23-year-old only took up the sport in 2014 as part of British Canoeing’s Girls4Gold initiative, targeting more women into the 200m canoe events in advance of their inclusion in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

This was Katie’s second time on the podium at this level with a bronze back in her debut senior season in 2016.

Since then the event has gone from strength to strength and after a sub 48 second personal best last week and a ninth place in the final at the opening World Cup of the season in Szeged, Reid stepped things up again today.

Canadian Laurence VincenteLapointe was the clear winner followed by Russia’s Kseniia Kurach. But Reid held on to fend off a strong challenge on the line from Indonesia’s Riska Andriyani and home crowd favourite Lisa Jahn.

Speaking after the medal ceremony, Reid, who is based at the sports high performance centre at Holme Pierrepont, said: “I am over the moon.

“It has been a really good World Cup two weeks. We have worked really hard over the winter, so to come here and get a medal this early in the season is great.

“It was such tight racing but I really enjoyed it.

“My plan was to get a really good start and then transition well and relax.

Training has been going really well, so it is about trusting that and just doing what you do on a daily basis.

“I still have a lot to gain on the start but I am happy with the rest of the race.

“It bodes well for the rest of the season for sure.”

Katie Reid: “Worked hard.”