Eckhardt slaloms way into first final

RISING Tasmanian canoeist Kate Eckhardt has produced the best result of her blossoming career at the canoe slalom World Cup event in Ivrea, Italy.

On the same day two-time Olympic medallist Jessica Fox added a silver medal to the gold she won 24 hours earlier, Eckhardt reached her maiden World Cup final, finishing seventh in the K1.

The 19-year-old went into the competition having not made a semi-final all year, and when she was struck down with illness days before racing started she thought her chances of breaking through on the weekend were blown.

However, the teenager dug deep to put together her best runs of the year.

“This year I haven’t been in any semifinals, even at the under-23 worlds, so to make a final today was totally beyond my belief really,” she said.

“I think I find that when it’s on bigger, trickier whitewater it works out for me.

“I was feeling really good on the water the last couple of days, but through the week I had a few days in bed apart from training because I was feeling a bit sick. So to come back from that and have my best performance ever, I’m really happy.”

Only German Ricarda Funk, a winner at three consecutive K1 World Cups in 2017, could outdo Fox on the difficult Italian course. Fox and Funk picked up twosecond penalties for gate touches, the German finishing in 97.80 and Fox 98.94.

Ian Borrows and Tasmanian Daniel Watkins had penalty trouble in the men’s C1 and missed the final, while Ros Lawrence also had a difficult gate that denied her a chance at the K1 final.