Ryan Westley became the new men's C1 European champion on a brilliant day for Great Britain's canoeists in Prague, which saw Adam Burgess also claim silver and Fiona Pennie a bronze.
Westley finished eighth and Burgess ninth in the semi-finals but both stepped up and put down blistering times to secure the top two spots in the C1 final of the European Canoe Slalom Championships.
A time of 95.48 seconds was enough to secure Westley the gold, with Burgess coming in just behind at 97.05 for silver, and the former claimed the competition between them fuelled him on the water.
“I thought I was a bit lucky to make the final,” said Westley. “I’m super happy for myself to be on top of the podium, I never thought I’d be winning races but it’s super cool when it happens.
“I knew it was a hard course so I tried my best, then I was sitting at the top for the finals.
“My teammate Adam Burgess had put down a faster time than anyone had managed, so I went out there and tried to do the best I could do and fortunately everything went my way and went really well.
“Me and Adam have been paddling together for ages, we came up through juniors and under-23s, and train together.
“Obviously you want to do the best you can do but when your teammate is there alongside you, like in 2015 when it was me and David [Florence], it’s awesome.
Westley also praised the atmosphere in Prague and insists it’s one of his favourite environments to race in.
He added: “I think this is the best place to race outside of the Olympics.
“I’ve been in three finals here now and the crowd is so good, they’re right next to the river.
“The atmosphere is so good, they cheer for everybody – which you don’t get in a lot of places.”
Having topped the leader board in the semi-finals with a time of 98.14, Britain’s David Florence couldn’t replicate his performance and ended up ninth in the final.
In the women’s K1, Fiona Pennie’s time of 102.91 was just under two seconds off gold medallist Ricarda Funk from Germany, meaning the Brit picked up bronze in Prague – her third European medal in this event. Sportsbeat 2018