Staffordshire's Joe Clarke thrilled with second World Cup silver of 2022

The Staffordshire paddler, who won gold in the K1 event at the Rio 2016 Olympics, has powered his way to silver in the men’s K1 at the World Cup.

The medal is his second of the 2022 series and his first in canoe slalom after he claimed another second place in the extreme slalom last week.

Clarke, who was controversially overlooked for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics despite his success in Rio and after finishing the season ranked second in the world, had a target of 84.94 to beat – set by Czech paddler Vit Prindis. The 29-year-old – who considered retirement after his Tokyo snub – came charging out of the blocks and had a 1.43 second advantage on the race leader after the first section.

In a tight contest, he crossed the line just 0.16 behind Prindis, in a run of 85.10, before a 50-second penalty for Peter Kauzer and a below-par time from Olympic champion Jiri Prskavec, handed Clarke the silver medal and his second prize of the series.

Clarke said: “I’m really happy with my performance. I’ve followed my processes throughout and put down a really solid semi-final. It was a long wait having to qualify after requiring the second run. Showing pace in that second round was positive.

“I was confident I was going to make the final after that performance, but you never know. Qualified in third and knew I had more in it, so I was excited to get back out there.

“To come away with second and so close to the gold was good to show what I am capable of.”

It is a course Clarke has a good pedigree on, as the Stafford & Stone paddler won gold the last time he competed in Krakow back in 2018.

He added: “I do really enjoy this course. It’s one I would say is fairly similar to that of Lee Valley or Nottingham in which I have spent a lot of time paddling on. The skills are transferable to here which is great.

“You’ve seen lots of fast times from the British team on this course so far and hopefully more to come.”