Results and Review – 2021 Canoe Slalom Europeans and Olympic Qualifier

Results and Review – 2021 Canoe Slalom Europeans and Olympic Qualifier, the international season for Canoe Slalom got underway on May 6th with the 2021 European Canoe Slalom Championships.

Not only an elite level championship this event also acted as the  European Continental Olympic Qualifier, with a single Olympic spot up for grabs in each of the 4  categories being contested at the event. The newly selected Irish Team was filled with proven  international performers eager to get into the fight for the final Olympic berths for Tokyo, the full  Irish team list can be found here. 

The key categories in which Team Ireland was chasing qualification were the K1 Men (Samuel  Curtis, Noel Hendrick and Alistair McCreery), the K1 Women (Hannah Craig and Madison  Corcoran) and the C1 Women (Michaela Corcoran). Across all the racing in these categories the  tightest by far was seen in the K1 Men, with the Olympic spot coming down to the wire between  Noel Hendrick and Krysztof Majerczak of Poland. After a great performance in the qualification  rounds Noel Hendrick rose again to the occasion with an even more impressive run the in the  semi-finals, laying down a marker for the remaining athletes seeking Olympic qualification to  chase. Athlete after athlete in contention for the Tokyo spot came down and finished behind Noel  in the standings, with the agonising wait coming to a close with Majerczak of Poland, the last  athlete in the running for the Olympic berth, storming down the course to claim the qualification  spot. While the ultimate goal of the Olympic games was not reached, it was none the less an  extremely impressive performance from the young athlete, making a statement as to his current  and future form. 

In the Olympic battle for the K1 Women it was the experience of Hannah Craig (London 2012  Olympian) which came closest for Ireland. With Hannahs final placing of 32nd being just 0.8  seconds away from a spot in the semi final, and a chance to race against Naemi Braendle of  Switzerland for the final qualification spot. 

The C1 Women featured a similar story, with Michaela Corcoran incurring a 50 second penalty to  take her out of the running for the Olympic spot in her category. 

Outside of the Olympic qualification battle, Irelands already confirmed 2021 Olympian Liam Jegou  was top of Irelands C1 Men. Liam showed his hard winter of training with a 10th place in the  qualification rounds, going on to suffer penalties in the semi final to finish in 30th overall for the  event. The C1 Men team also put up a valiant fight to defend their silver medal from last years  Euros, finishing in 5th place in the final, just one 2 second penalty away from a spot on the podium.

2021 Canoe Slalom European Championships & Olympic Qualifier 

Full results – 

K1 Men 

Noel Hendrick – 24th 

Alistair McCreery – 37th 

Samuel Curtis – 44th 

K1 Women 

Hannah Craig – 32nd 

Madison Corcoran – 34th 

C1 Women 

Michaela Corcoran – 35th 

C1 Men 

Liam Jegou – 30th 

Robert Hendrick – 32nd 

Jake Cochrane – 38th