European Games 2023: Elena Lilik earns Germany's second Paris 2024 quota in canoe slalom while Ryan Westley breaks through for Great Britain
Lilik's victory in the women's C-1 event gave Germany a sweep of women's canoe slalom quotas. In the men's event, an emotional Westley recaptured his 2018 European title and moved one step closer to going to his first Olympic Games.
Canoe Slalom
After winning two bronze medals with the German canoe slalom team, Elena Lilik broke through with gold in the final individual event at the 2023 European Games.
Her victory took Germany's quotas in the Paris 2023 canoe slalom competition to two with Ricarda Funk earning the first quota on Saturday (1 July) in the women's K-1 final.
"It means a lot for our federation," Lilik told Olympics.com after her golden run. "I’ll have to qualify (as an athlete) next. However, the place is there so it’s a good start."
Already a bronze medallist in the women's kayak and canoe team events, Lilik led the C-1 semi-final and repeated the winning result in the final despite picking up two penalty seconds at the last gate.
The penalties put Lilik dangerously close to Poland's Klaudia Zwolinska who won silver the previous day in the women's K-1 and was determined to upgrade to gold. But though Zwolinska managed to clean up her two mistakes from the semi-final, she still fell behind Lilik's time by 0.62 seconds and had to settle for her second silver.
Tokyo 2020 silver medallist Mallory Franklin made the fastest time in the final but six mistakes put her back into third place.
Lilik is also racing in the kayak cross later on Sunday (2 July). Kayak cross will make its Olympic debut at Paris 2024 and Lilik is aiming to compete in all three canoe slalom events next year.
"I don’t know how I manage to do all three events," the 2021 canoe world champion said. "Sometimes I’m surprised by myself where all the power comes from. But it works and that makes me happy and confident."
Ryan Westley: Recapturing European title after five years
In the earlier men's C-1 final, Ryan Westley punched a ticket to the Paris 2024 slalom competition for Great Britain in the hopes of being selected for his first Olympic Games.
The 29-year-old athlete made a clean run in the morning's semi-final of the men’s C-1 event at the 2023 European Games to qualify for the final in sixth position. He then managed to shave 5.2 seconds off in his final run while still remaining clear of any penalities, as his teammates ran along the course to cheer for him.
This effort put Westley on top of the podium as he recaptured the European title he first won in 2018.
"I was feeling so far from it for a long time so to be in that top spot, I never thought it could happen again in my career. Never could imagine that," an emotional Westley, who underwent two major surgeries on his shoulders in 2018 and in March 2021, told Olympics.com after the competition.
"I struggled. I found it really hard to come back after Covid. I felt like a different paddler and my confidence was shocked. Would I ever be back again?" he said. "I still have a long way to go but I never thought I’d be on a podium again so really happy."
Coming in 1.15 seconds behind was Spain’s Miquel Trave, with Czechia’s Vaclav Chaloupka taking the bronze. All athletes in the top five did not pick up any penalty seconds in their runs.
It was a tougher day for Slovenia’s Benjamin Savsek. The reigning Olympic champion and current world no.1 in the discipline had the leading time in the semi-final and would have earned the silver in the final if not for picking up four penalty seconds in the first half of the race.
He ultimately finished sixth, 4.74 seconds behind Westley.