Florence endures agonising wait before clinching world title gold

Florence regained his canoe single title at the World Championships in Lee Valley after having to endure a torturous wait.

The 2013 champion was only fourth fastest in the semi-finals with a clean run of 95.68 seconds, but then led in the final with another clean run of 94.32 seconds, knowing he had to suffer the agony of watching the three paddlers who posted faster qualifying times.

But, one by one, his rivals fell by the wayside. American Casey Eichfeld looked set to topple Florence but was given a two-second penalty when he touched the third-last gate and clocked 96.54 seconds.

Slovakian Michal Martikan was next up but he missed gate 20, incurring a 50-second penalty which counted him out.

That meant only Slovenian Benjamin Savsek could deny Florence gold. He made a valiant attempt but was just a fraction of a second out, clocking 94.36 seconds for silver, with Britain’s Ryan Westley taking bronze in 96.33 seconds.

It was a triumph for Florence, on his home course, after he missed out on a medal in the doubles with Richard Hounslow on Saturday, a touch on the last gate costing them a place on the podium.

Fastest qualifiers, they had to chase a time of 101.17 seconds in the final set by Germans Franz Anton and Jan Benzien.

The British pair suffered an early touch on gate eight and it left them with a lot of work to do. They produced a bold effort before the touch on gate 22 denied them the bronze medal, and they eventually placed fifth (104.68 seconds). There was some consolation with a bronze medal in the canoe doubles team event later in the day.

Kinross’s Eilidh Gibson, competing in her first World Championships, finished a highly creditable fifth in the women’s canoe singles. Gibson led the way with 124.72 seconds with four paddlers to go but was squeezed out of the medals along with GB team-mate Kimberley Woods, who was fourth.

Australian Jessica Fox retained her title and made up for missing out on a kayak medal with an impressive final run of 113.51 seconds.

There was disappointment for Crieff’s Fiona Pennie, silver medallist last year, in the kayak. She qualified for the final of the kayak with the eighthfastest time but was soon in trouble when she touched gate three, suffering an early two-second penalty.

Pennie also touched gates eight and 17 to leave her well out of contention with a time of 120.02, to place ninth overall. GB team-mates Lizzie Neave and Kimberley Woods were seventh and tenth respectively on a day when British paddlers were squeezed out of the medals. Pennie finished the day with a silver medal in the women’s team event.

The other Scot in action over the weekend, Roslin’s Bradley Forbescryans, failed to make the final of the men’s kayak.