Scottish Paracanoe athlete Hope Gordon is new World Champion
Massive congratulations to Scottish Paracanoe athlete Hope Gordon, who secured a spot at the 2024 Paris Olympics with an amazing performance at the ICF Paracanoe & Canoe Sprint World Championships in Duisburg, Germany.
Hope put down a lifetime best to claim the gold medal and a Paris quota place for Great Britain in the women's VL3 200m - a new event for the 2024 Paralympic Games.
She dominated the race, and crossed the line in 56.199, a new World Best time.
Delighted with her win, Hope said "'World Champion' sounds pretty good. It was a good race there and I was really happy that I delivered. Everyone in the team has an individual job to do and mine was to book that boat, so to do that by winning is amazing. I’ve not had the smoothest run into this competition picking up a bit of a back injury a few weeks ago so to be here and compete is amazing given how I felt three weeks ago.
"It’s amazing to have my family here and it’s such a cool venue. The weather has got a bit cooler which is great for me. It’s a great venue and great competition."
Other Scots racing over the weekend were Deborah Kerr (K4 500m and K2 500m), Lewis Fletcher (K1 200m) and Katie Reid (C2 500m).
It was a lifetime best performance for Lewis in the K1 200m, taking a close 5th place, within touching distance of the medals. This was a huge step forward for Lewis in this event and a sign of his continued 200m paddling potential.
Deborah was racing in two Olympic qualification races over the weekend but had a tough time, finishing agonisingly just outside the quota qualification spots in each event. In the K4 event the crew missed out on the A-Final and the chance to race for Olympic quota qualification, showing a huge amount of heart they raced well in the B-Final, finishing 2nd to the strong Canadian crew.
It was 9th place in the K2 for Deborah, alongside her partner Emma Russell. The duo, who were in the hunt for Paris quota places, were involved in a tussle to the line with five crews finishing within a second of each other. Sadly, their placing was confirmed after a lengthy wait for the photo finish. Tough results but really strong racing from Debs and performances to be proud of.
Katie Reid was racing in the Women’s C2 alongside Beth Gill. They raced well, making the B Final in this rapidly progressing event, eventually going on to finish in 6th place, 15th overall.
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Want to know more about Paracanoe? The SCA have recently launched a Paracanoe Pathway with various open events for paddlers of all ages and abilities taking place during the year - learn more here.
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