Lizzie Broughton capped off a remarkable World Sprint Canoe Championships as she won gold in the women’s K1 5000m race in Portugal.
It was her second medal of the week after she had already claimed silver in the shorter distance K1 1000m final on Friday.
Broughton sealed a convincing first place, coming home in a time of 24:01.7, ten seconds ahead of closest rival Maryna Litvinchuk who took silver, whilst Ireland’s Jennifer Egan grabbed bronze.
“It’s just amazing, I can’t believe it. The 1000m was a bonus and this is awesome,” she said.
“I am not so great at the start in a 5km race and I knew there were a lot of quick starters.
“I know I have the speed over 20 minutes but it is the first 20 seconds that I needed to put to good use.
“One of the advantages of being a slower starter is that I managed to stay out of trouble down to the first turn and then I just picked my way through to the front.”
A specialist in canoe marathon, Broughton had surprised the field with her silver, but has pedigree in the longer distances, and it certainly showed on the final day of the Championships.
Elsewhere Jessica Walker missed out on a medal by just two tenths of a second in the K1 200m as she took fifth, equalling her best ever World Championship result, with Zyggy Chmiel finishing 19th in the men’s K1 500m race.
The men’s K4 crew came fourth in the B final of the 500m event, whilst Katie Reid and Chloe Bracewell were third in the women’s C2 500m. Sportsbeat 2018