Britain's Clarke wins kayak gold at World Championship

Britain's Joe Clarke marked the opening day of the ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships with a gold medal in the men's kayak cross in Oklahoma City.

The 33-year-old surged to victory in the individual time trial in 46.54 seconds at the Olympics Canoe Slalom venue set to be used at the 2028 Los Angeles Games.

"It feels amazing. I've not been running the best the past couple of days and I tweaked my neck a little bit," Clarke said.

"Yesterday's kayak cross was probably one of the worst I've ever had, so to turn it around within 16 hours is fantastic and a great start to the competition."

Clarke won silver in the same event at Penrith last year, and has now won seven world titles across all events.

Meanwhile, Lois Leaver claimed her first-ever World Championship medal at senior level as she won bronze in the women's kayak cross individual.

The 24-year-old finished just 0.12 seconds off gold in 51.17 seconds, her best career result to date.

Sam Leaver just missed out on adding a second British podium of the day as he finished fourth in the men's K1 final in 86.25 seconds.

He led the contest for a significant period, but a light touch on gate 15 landed him a costly two-second time penalty, as he finished 2.6 seconds off first place and just 0.98 seconds off the podium.

Leaver showed a big improvement, however, from his semi-final run where he finished 11th in 88.64 seconds and earned valuable Olympic qualification points as Great Britain bids to secure a men's K1 quota place for LA 2028.

"I was frustrated after I touched in the semi-finals and I didn't think I would make it into the final so I was at peace with that, I thought I would just come top 15," said the 22-year-old.

"So then, I just wanted to see what I could do in the final, do a run I'm proud of and see if it stacks up against the fastest guys. That was pretty much what happened in the final.

"On the whole, I'm just happy to be in there and happy to have done what I said I would do which is a good run for myself and doing all that I can.

"It was my first ever senior World Championships in slalom and I came fourth so I'm pretty happy with that, to be honest."

Clarke had posted the fastest time in the semi-finals, leading the field in 84.78 seconds, but the 34-year-old, who claimed Olympic gold in K1 at Rio 2016, was unlucky to incur a time penalty in the final that would end his hopes of a medal.

Clarke was deemed to have missed gate four by the judges, giving him a 50-second time penalty that saw him finish 11th in the final in 136.27 seconds.

Bethan Forrow finished 22nd in the semi-finals, with three two-second time penalties proving costly.

The 25-year-old completed the course in 106.09 seconds, meaning she did not progress to the final.

Ben Haylett also saw his day end at the semi-finals. He capsized at the top of the course and, despite correcting, a 50-second penalty for missing gate four proved costly as he finished 29th in his semi-final.

Great Britain claimed the men's canoe team world title on day three of the Canoe Slalom World Championships in Oklahoma City.

The team of Adam Burgess, Ryan Westley and Peter Linksted delivered a faultless run as the penultimate team to go in Wednesday's final to cruise into top spot in 93.18 seconds - with France finishing second.

Burgess and Westley had both finished second to the French at the previous two World Championships in the same event.

After France picked up a two-second time penalty on the final gate, they finished 0.36 seconds behind the British trio to ensure the gold medal belonged to Great Britain.

After winning gold, Burgess said: "We're super chuffed to finally get to call ourselves world champions for the first time."

The women's team of Kimberley Woods, Mallory Franklin and Ellis Miller just missed out on the podium in their canoe team final, as they finished fourth in 105.81 seconds.

Woods won Britain's third medal as she claimed bronze in the women's kayak final on day four.

The 30-year-old, who won Olympic bronze at Paris 2024, put down a run of 94.91 seconds and came third despite picking up a two-second penalty at gate 21.

She finished 2.85 seconds behind Australia's Jessica Fox, who won her fifth world K1 title, while she was 1.54 seconds behind American Evy Leibfarth in second.

"I'm a bit gutted about my touch but to go out there and enjoy myself and to bring home another medal, I feel really proud for the team, but also for myself and my family at home," said Woods.