Staffordshire canoe star Joe Clarke battles back to win Olympic medal
Stone canoe slalom star Joe Clarke had to settle for silver as New Zealand’s Finn Butcher claimed inaugural kayak cross gold at Paris 2024.
Clarke had been targeting victory in a discipline in which he is a three-time world champion but having been dominant in the knockout rounds, he paid the price for a slow start in the gold medal race.
The 31-year-old battled from the back of the field to put pressure on Butcher but could not quite catch his rival.
Clarke still seemed happy with the result, punching the air with his fist after crossing the line.
The Stafford and Stone Canoe Club star, champion in the K1 event at Rio 2016, is now a two-time Olympic medallist.
He is also the second member of the club to claim a medal in Paris, a week after Adam Burgess took silver in the canoe singles event.
Having cruised through two races at the weekend, Clarke faced the prospect of three in little more than an hour as he looked to claim gold.
The first was scrappy and it was actually Spain’s Manuel Ochoa who crossed the line first ahead of the Briton, only for his celebrations to be cut short by an eight-second penalty which relegated him from first to fourth and out of the competition.
Clarke’s semi-final was a much more straightforward affair and he led from the front to qualify for the gold medal race.
But for once he was slow out of the blocks and despite battling past Germany’s Noah Hegge and Czechia’s Lukas Rohan, he could not catch Butcher. Hegge eventually took the bronze.
Staffordshire County Council Cabinet Member for Communities, Victoria Wilson, said: “Our Staffordshire athletes are really making the county proud at these Olympics. Joe’s race was absolutely thrilling to watch, and I’m so proud that he’s come away with a medal.
“The Olympics always brings out the best in people and our Staffordshire athletes are no different. It just goes to show the sort of calibre of person we have in our county.
“And it doesn’t stop there. We still have cyclists Dan Bigham and Sophie Capewell yet to compete for more medals, and I am sure we will be celebrating more Staffordshire success in the coming days.”
