GB Canoe Slalom Team gear up for European Championships this weekend
SubscribeGB Canoeing/UK Sport 27 May 2009
The GB Canoe Slalom team shared their thoughts and ambitions today, ahead of the European Championships in Nottingham this weekend. The BCU’s World Class Olympic Podium Programme’s Performance Director, John Anderson reflected on the importance of the competition and what it means in the context of this Olympic cycle.
The Championships will be the first major international canoe slalom competition since the Beijing Olympics and takes place in Nottingham 28 – 31 May. With a raft of Olympians, World and European Champions battling for medals, the event will certainly be tense, especially as the GB athletes want to put in solid performances on home ground. The last time an event of this scale was held in the UK was the World Championships in Nottingham in 1995.
In canoe slalom, Europe is the strongest continent in the World and the most successful Olympians will be there to start their journey on the road to London 2012.
One of those athletes is GB’s Campbell Walsh, Olympic Silver medallist and defending European Champion in the K1 class (kayak single). David Florence Olympic Silver medallist from Beijing will also want to demonstrate his form and clinch a medal in the C1 (canoe single) class.
Performance Director, John Anderson commented, “We have an excellent team and Great Britain is one of the top five canoeing nations in the World along with Germany, Slovakia, France and the Czech Republic.”
When asked about medal expectation John said, “Obviously a glut of medals would be very nice. However the team will be concentrating on their performances, we can’t control what other nations do and how they race. The team have made solid preparations over the winter and spring months and will now be looking to focus on delivering a sound performance.”
Asked about how important it is to have an international race on home ground in terms of preparations for the London Olympics, John Anderson replied, “This competition, the first big international event of Olympic cycle is very important for preparations for the London Olympics and having it at home is really exciting, everyone is looking forward to it and there is certainly a good buzz in the air. We thank our partners and supporters, UK Sport and Nottinghamshire County Council, without them we would not have been able to host this event. ”
The 2009 European Canoe Slalom Championships in Nottingham is being supported by UK Sport’s National Lottery funded World Class Events Programme. UK Sport Events Consultant, Esther Nicholls, said, “We are delighted to be helping stage the European Canoe Slalom Championships on home soil, to aid the preparation not only of the British canoe slalom athletes, but also event managers, officials and volunteers in the build up to the London Olympic Games in 2012.”
