Olympic canoe slalom: Joe Clarke and Kimberley Woods win kayak cross medals

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Olympic canoe slalom: Joe Clarke and Kimberley Woods win kayak cross medals

Woods and Clarke qualified by winning their quarter-final and semi-final races – which feature four kayakers tackling the course at the same time – leaving a double gold celebration looking possible.

World champion Woods started her final strongly but had difficulty at the final gate and lost momentum.

She crossed the line fourth, but was awarded bronze after Germany’s Elena Lilik was disqualified for a fault earlier in the race.

Attention quickly moved to Clarke. He was aiming for Olympic redemption after missing out on the Tokyo 2020 team even though he was in the form of his life.

Clarke, a three-time world champion, started more slowly than in his previous races and was unable to make up the gap on New Zealand’s Finn Butcher.

Both British paddlers celebrated ecstatically after winning medals which are the reward for coming through tough personal journeys.

“I came here as a bit of redemption for missing Tokyo and I’ve certainly put that to bed,” said Clarke.

Woods found salvation through canoeing after enduring bullying which led to depression and self-harm.

Since coming through therapy between 2016 and 2018, Woods’ career has soared and led to the world title last year.

She celebrated another Olympic medal by jumping up and down on the podium alongside *********** gold medallist Noemie Fox and French silver medallist Angele Hug.

“Everyone knows about my mental health journey. Now thankfully I can use this platform for whatever I want to use it for,” she said.

“Hopefully people will now go and listen to my story and go and get the help that they need.”

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