Mallory Franklin claims 18th European Championships medal

Great Britain’s Mallory Franklin claimed her 18th European Championships medal, winning bronze in the K1 final in Tacen, Slovenia.

In the final she crossed the line with a lead of more than one second before being overtaken by the eventual winner Klaudia Zwolinska of Poland and Zuzana Pankova of Slovakia who won silver.

But with C1 her focus for this season, Franklin, Britain’s most successful female canoeist, said she was delighted with the result.

“That was really hard work today. I’ve never paddled this river at such a high level so it was a new experience for us all,” she said.

“A core skill of slalom is adaptability and focus and I think my experience and exposure to lots of different racing environments really helped me today.”