Illustration photo – Water slalom skiers (from left): Lukáš Rohan, Vít Přindiš, Tereza Fišerová, Gabriela Satková and Jiří Prskavec pose on June 9, 2022 in Prague before the press conference for the World Cup in water slalom, which will take place from June 10 in Troy.
Prague – The World Cup in water slalom will take place in Prague from Thursday to Sunday. The area in Troja will be the scene of top competitions for the nineteenth time in history, but the program is now four days long and the first final will take place already on Friday, not at the weekend. It made the work of the organizers more complicated, Jiří Rohan, director of the organizing committee, said at today's press conference.
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The organizers learned about the extension of the racing program by one day in the winter. “From my point of view, it is unsystematic and late. It added work, some things were already started in which we promoted a deadline that ultimately did not apply. I do not like this decision at all from the organizer's point of view. It makes the event more expensive, and not by a little. The finals on Friday are not entirely happy,” said Rohan.
He worries there will be fewer fans than usual in Troy early Friday night for the climax of the male and female kayak competition. “We're used to it being Saturday and Sunday. But maybe I'll be wrong and a lot of people will come,” remarked Rohan. Kayaking world champion Vít Prindiš will also fight for success in Troja. He is not worried about the number of fans. “From today, they remain from West Ham and Fiorentina,” he joked in connection with the final duel of the European Conference League, because of which groups of supporters of the English and Italian football clubs can be seen in the streets of Prague.
Almost four hundred boats from 45 countries are registered for the slalom World Cup. “That's a decent number for water slalom,” praised Rohan. This time there were no problems with the financing of the event, which will cost approximately nine million crowns. Public resources also added to the support of sponsors. “The National Sports Agency made a significant contribution, and in the last week we also learned about support from the capital city of Prague,” added the head of the organizing team.
The World Cup started last week in Augsburg, and Olympic champion Jiří Prskavec took third place for the only Czech medal there. He didn't win it in kayak, where he was fifth, but in canoe, which he started to devote himself to.
He is traditionally successful at home in Troy, he won the kayakers' race four times at the World Cup here, and won the European title in 2020. “At the moment, I'm motivated to do better in a kayak than a single in a race. I haven't been able to do that since the nomination races. I haven't done well in the kayak so far. I hope I can fix that and have a good ride here in Troy , with which I would be satisfied,” he stated.
Kayaker Amálie Hilgertová, who returned to the Czech national team after a break, is also enthusiastically looking forward to the home race. “Now I'm entering the season looking forward to every race. The last two years I haven't raced as much as others. But the Saint in Troy is something else, I'm doubly looking forward to it. When something goes well, that success is something more ,” she confided.
SP program in water slalom in Prague:
Thursday, June 8: 2:00 p.m. women's K1 qualification 1st run, 15 :08 K1 men's qualification 1st heat, 16:35 K1 women's qualification 2nd heat, 17:23 K1 men's qualification 2nd heat.
Friday 9 June: 8:00 C1 women's qualification 1st heat . Women, 5.26pm K1 Men's Final.
Saturday 10 June: 9.00am C1 Women's Semi-Final, 10.05am C1 Men's Semi-Final, 11.34am C1 Women's Final, 12.11pm C1 Men's Final
Sunday June 11: 12:19 kayakcross – elimination races.
