Women's K1 Slalom/Finals
HILGERTOVA Wins Battle With CHLADEK for Women's K1 Gold Medal
Stepanka HILGERTOVA of the Czech Republic edged out Dana CHLADEK of the United States for the gold medal in the women's Olympic kayak singles (K1) event on Saturday at the Ocoee Whitewater Center in Tennessee. Both kayakers turned in runs of 169.49, but HILGERTOVA won the gold medal by having a faster effort during her second run than CHLADEK's first. HILGERTOVA clocked 169.49 on her first run and 171.97 on her second run. CHALDEK, the 1992 Olympic bronze medalist, recorded her 169.49 on her second run, but missed four gates on her first run for a penalty-ladened score of 386.60.
The bronze medal was won by Myriam JERUSALMI-FOX of France, during her second run in a time of 171.00. Each medal winner received a gate penalty during their medal-winning runs. Defending Olympic gold medalist Elisabeth MICHELER-JONES of Great Britain was unable to repeat, finishing 10th overall. She was in contention on her second run, but missed gates 19 and 20.
Final Results: Gold - Stepanka HILGERTOVA (CZE), 169.49; Silver - Dana CHLADEK (USA), 169.49; Bronze - Myriam JERUSALMI-FOX (FRA), 171.00.
"I didn't expect my time to hold," said silver medalist Dana CHLADEK (USA), regarding her second run. "I didn't expect to medal. It was a total surprise."
MARTIKAN Edges POLLERT for Men's C1 Slalom Gold Medal
Seventeen-year-old Michal MARTIKAN of Slovakia edged defending gold medalist Lukas POLLERT of the Czech Republic in the men's Olympic canoe singles (C1) slalom event on Saturday at the Ocoee Whitewater Center in Tennessee. MARTIKAN raced a time of 151.03 during his second run to beat out POLLERT by .14 seconds.
POLLERT, the 1992 Olympic gold medalist, posted his time of 151.17 on his first run, but could not improve on it during his second run when he picked up too many gate penalties. POLLERT entered the Olympic C1 event seeded No. 2 while MARTIKAN was seeded No. 3. The top seed, Emmanuel BRUGVIN of France finished sixth overall while countryman Patrice ESTANGUET earned the bronze medal with his time of 152.84.
Final Results: Gold - Michal MARTIKAN (SVK), 151.03; Silver - Lukas POLLERT (CZE), 151.17; Bronze - Patrice ESTANGUET (FRA), 152.84.
"All dreams came true that I worked on for so long," said gold medalist Michal MARTIKAN (SVK). "I put a lot of risk in second run, and all went well."
This is an official publication of the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games Sports Publications Department.
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