The 2023 ICF Canoe Slalom World Cup season returns this week from Thursday 31 August to Sunday 3 September, after a 10 week break, bringing athletes to La Seu, in the Catalan Pyrenees in Spain.
Following the first three World Cup events in June, Australia’s Canoe Slalom team returned home for a mid-season break, before they tackle World Cup 4 this weekend, the 2023 World Championships in London next month, and the World Cup finals in early October, which doubles as the Paris 2024 Olympic Test Event.
With next month’s World Championships also the Olympic qualification event, Australia’s nine person team will be looking to use the La Seu World Cup as vital preparation.
Multiple World Cup champion Jessica Fox is heading into La Seu with five World Cup medals from this season already, including K1 and C1 gold in Prague, C1 gold in Augsburg, and K1 gold and Extreme Kayak bronze in Ljubljana-Tacen.
The NSWIS athlete said she is looking forward to returning to the historical course, which she first competed at during her debut World Cup season in 2013. Since then, Fox has won 12 medals across World Cup and World Championships events at the Spanish White Water centre over the past decade.
“La Seu is one of those older slalom courses, it hosted the 1992 Olympic Games and what I love about La Seu is the setting, a little country town nestled in the mountains in Catalonia,” Fox said.
“It’s kind of in the centre of town so you get a lot of the villages walking through… it’s a really beautiful setting.
“The course itself is a lot more narrow, smaller white water, it’s fiddly and tricky,” she explained.
“The Spanish know it so well, and I always love watching them paddle there, but I’ve learnt the features well over the last 15 years so I’ve come to know it quite well and it’s a pleasure competing there.”
The 2023 ICF Canoe Slalom World Cup 4 gets underway with C1 heats on Thursday 31 August at 10pm AEST. K1 heats will be held on Friday as well as C1 semifinals and finals. K1 finals are on Saturday, with Kayak Cross time trials, heats and finals on Sunday. For the full schedule – click here.
Stream the K1 and C1 finals via Kayo Sports and Foxsports Ch507.
- C1 finals from 12.45 – 2.00am AEST on Saturday morning
- K1 finals from 7.30 – 8.45pm AEST on Saturday night
- Kayak Cross finals from 8.15 – 9.30pm AEST on Sunday night (Kayo only)
2023 Paddle Australia Canoe Slalom Team – World Cup 4
Jess Fox (WK1 and WC1)
Noemie Fox (WK1 and WC1)
Kate Eckhardt (WK1 and WC1)
Lucien Delfour (MK1)
Tim Anderson (MK1)
Ben Pope (MK1)
Tristan Carter (MC1)
Brodie Crawford (MC1)
Kaylen Bassett (MC1)
