Aly Bull has won back-to-back world titles at the 2023 ICF Canoe Sprint and Paracanoe World Championships, as the Aussies remain atop of the medal tally with four gold.
It was another massive day for the Australian outfit, highlighted by a gold medal and two more quotas for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, courtesy of strong finals performances from Olympic gold medalist Tom Green and dual Olympian Alyce Wood.
Bull claimed a commanding win in the women’s K1 1000 Final, almost two seconds ahead of her nearest competitor, Poland’s Justyna Iskrycka.
“I’m really stoked to be able to go back-to-back in the K1 1000, it’s a challenging race and it’s pretty cool I was able to do it,” Bull said.
“I tend to try and not look around when I’m in a race…I just knew that there was a bit of a tail breeze on today and I just really wanted to go hard from the start.
“Unfortunately I think I overcooked myself in that middle section, but I was really glad to still be able to come away with a win,” she said.
Bull said while she’s proud to be a world championships gold medalist, she’s even more proud to be a member of the Australian team.
“To be a part of this team is so inspiring, every day seeing these people go out and smash it,” Bull said.
“Yesterday was so uplifting, there was so many medals coming in – Jean, Dylan, Curt, Susan, Ben…it’s epic.
“The boys qualified their K4 500 yesterday as well, Tom paddled well today, Alyce paddled well today.
“Everyone is going so well and it’s just amazing to be a part of,” she said.
Tom Green qualified another quota spot for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, finishing fourth in the men’s K1 1000 Final. Only 2.3 seconds separated the top-5 paddlers, making for some fast and furious racing.
Alyce Wood returned to the World Championships stage in style, finishing fifth in the women’s K1 500.
After what’s been a huge 12 months for the new mum, Wood said she was super proud of the result today.
“It’s really nice to know that I’ve been able to get a quota spot for Australia, and do that for the team,” Wood said.
“I’m really happy with the race, really happy to be in the mix and happy to be able to race with those girls again.
“The really special thing is there was three of us with kids in that race, and we got third, fourth and fifth. So I think that’s really special as well,” she said.
Fletcher Armstrong and Jakob Hammond finished 7th in the men’s K2 1000 Final, while Susan Seipel backed up from yesterday’s bronze medal performance to finish fifth in the women’s KL2 200 Final.
The final day of racing will get underway on Sunday 27 August from 6pm AEST.
For the full schedule and results – click here
The 2023 ICF Canoe Sprint and Paracanoe World Championships will be live streamed via the Planet Canoe Recast channel – click here
