Joe Clarke finishes fifth in canoe slalom final
The Stoke-on-Trent paddler was the fastest to qualify for the final.
Great Britain’s Joe Clarke finished fifth in the men’s K1 singles at Paris 2024.
The 31-year-old Clarke had qualified fastest for the 12-man canoe slalom final and was the last man down the Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium course.
Needing to beat the mark of 88.22 seconds set by Giovanni de Gennaro, the Stoke-on-Trent paddler was more than half a second down on the Italian at the halfway point.
Clarke failed to pick up the momentum needed to overtake De Gennaro and slipped in the closing section to tumble out of the medal places.
He crossed the line in 89.92secs, nearly a second behind bronze medallist Pau Echaniz, of Spain, with France’s Titouan Castryck taking silver.
Clarke won the K1 gold at Rio 2016 but missed out on selection for the Tokyo Olympics three years ago.
