Ratcliffe Paddles to European Gold
17th July 2002OLYMPIC SILVER medallist Paul Ratcliffe won the Gold medal in the K1M at the 2002 Slalom European Senior and U23 Championships in Bratislava, Slovakia, at the weekend.
Ratcliffe, supported by UK Sport through the World Class Performance Programme, lay in fourth place after the first run behind local competitor Peter Cibak, but managed to make up just two valuable seconds he needed on his second run to take the Gold medal, and European Crown.
Further success went to Laura Blakeman, in the U23 K1W event, where she paddled it out to bring home the Silver medal, taking Great Britain’s medal tally to two. Fellow Brit, Kimberley Walsh finished the event in sixth place position.
The Performance Services Manager for Canoeing at UK Sport, Emyr Roberts, commented on Britain’s success in Bratislava:
“After the disappointment of the cancellation of last year’s Slalom World Championships due to the 11 September events in America - this Gold medal success by Paul reaffirms his status as one of the top slalom paddlers in the world and suggests that he is well placed in his preparations for further medal success in Athens 2004.
“His performance and promising results from other British paddlers in Bratislava indicate that the World Class Coaching staff on the British Canoe Union World Class Performance Programme is making a positive impact.”