Australia has earned two medals on the penultimate day of the 2024 ICF Junior and U23 Canoe Sprint World Championships in Plovdiv, Bulgaria.
New South Wales athletes Kailey Harlen and Natalia Drobot claimed the gold in the U23 K2 Women’s 500m before Drobot returned to the start line and delivered once again in the U23 K1 Women’s 200m, this time finishing second.
Members of the 21-strong team made up of Australia’s best up-and-coming young athletes, Drobot and Harlen were thrilled to claim World Championship gold.
“I think we’re in shock, there’s really no words,” said Drobot after the race.
“Kailey did an amazing job just setting up the race so well and all I had to do was follow, it just feels absolutely amazing,” she said.
“We definitely held ourselves well in the middle of the race, we could feel the nose of the Slovakian boat creeping forward but we’ve put a bit of practice into our back end and I think we’re both so happy that it all worked out,” added Harlen.
Having trained alongside the Australian athletes preparing to compete at the upcoming Olympic Games for the past several months, Drobot mentioned the pair were inspired by the efforts of their teammates.
“A massive shout out to our coach Rene Olsen for his hard work and also to the team getting ready for Paris 2024,” said Drobot.
“We are so proud of them and their hard work and I think they’d be proud of us after this too,” she said.
On her second place finish in the individual event, Drobot said she was thrilled to come away with a podium finish.
“I had so much adrenaline in me after winning gold with Kailey so I’m super stoked to have finished second amongst this field of really quick athletes,” she said.
“I found it pretty easy to switch into the K1 mindset – I allowed myself the 40 minutes in between races to really hone in on my mindset, my abilities and what I was going to bring to the race.”
The 2024 ICF Junior and U23 Canoe Sprint World Championships will continue tomorrow evening when more Australian paddlers take to the course.
To view a full list of results, click here.
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