World Cup joy in Germany for Staffordshire's Olympic canoe stars

Staffordshire duo Joe Clarke and Adam Burgess were both in the medals at the Augsburg Canoe Slalom World Cup.

Former Olympic champion Clarke won his first gold medal of the year thanks to a brilliant performance in the kayak cross.

Fellow Stone and Stafford canoe club ace Burgess, meanwhile, took silver in a tightly-contested C1 event.

The results gave both a reason to be cheerful heading toward next month’s world championships in Oklahoma.

Clarke, who won silver in the kayak cross at Paris 2024, actually crossed the line in second place behind fellow Brit Ben Haylett.

But the latter was subsequently demoted due to a fault, giving the Midlands man the win.

Clarke, who now sits second in the overall World Cup standings, said: "It wasn't the usual style of win that I go for, the 'fly out the blocks and stay out front', but it was special to be on the start line with Ben.

"I'm hungry for more in Oklahoma. I know everyone will up their level even more, so the next few weeks are about refining our processes and hopefully the outcome will take care of itself."

Burgess, who won C1 silver in Paris, looked set for victory in Germany after taking more than four seconds off his qualifying time in the final.

But he was pipped by Italy’s Rafaello Ivaldi, who went 0.07 seconds quicker.

Burgess saw the positives having followed up a third-placed finish at the previous World Cup round in Prague.

“I had a really good time," he said. "The atmosphere in Augsburg is always really good with people reaching over and banging the boards to create a really good buzz when you’re racing.

“I knew there were a few areas in my heat to improve on and I managed to find that time. I just really enjoyed it, from top to bottom.

“I’m happy that there are two of us on the podium who are non-switchers, keeping one-sided C1 paddling alive.

“It’s the first time I’ve done back-to-back podiums in a World Cup. There was a tight margin, but let’s save the gold for the Worlds.”