The 2013 ICF World Freestyle Championship has come to an end after an exciting week at the Nantahala Outdoor Center in North Carolina.
Men’s and Women’s Squirt Finals were first on the list of many Final rounds. In Women’s Squirt, Claire O’Hara (GBR) proved herself yet again, and took home the gold and the World Champion title in her division with 1,153 points. Bringing home silver was Motoko Ishida (JPN) with 603 points and Yoshiko Suematsu (JPN) took the bronze with 286 points. In the Men’s Division, Clay Wright (USA) topped the podium with 1,340 points. In second place is Dane Jackson (USA) with 1, 160 points, while Max Karlsson (SWE) nabbed bronze with 860 points.
Jordan Poffenberger (USA) came in first place with 283 points in Men’s OC-1, Dane Jackson (USA) took home silver with 103 points, and Jez Jez (AUS) came away with a bronze medal with 100 points. In Men’s C1, Poffenberger (USA) took another gold medal with 1,068 points, while teammates Tad Dennis (USA) came in second with 843 points and Dane Jackson (USA) took bronze with 840 points.
Home-state hero Rowan Stuart (USA) was able to snatch a gold medal in the Junior Women’s K1 division with a 423 point ride. Nuria Fontane (ESP) came in second with 380 points, and Kimberlee Aldred (GBR) placed third with an even 200 point ride. In Men’s K1 Junior, Hunter Katich (USA) took top spot with an impressive score of 1,200 points. Thomas Richard (FRA) took home silver with 1,006 points and Alec Vorhees (USA) took home bronze with 953 points.
In one of the more anticipated Finals of the week, Claire O’Hara (GBR) grabbed yet another World Champion title in the Women’s K1 division, with a 708 point ride. Hitomi Kakau (JPN) took silver with 650 points, and Adriene Levknecht (USA) went home with bronze after her 326 point run.
To some, it may have come as no surprise that 20 year-old Dane Jackson (USA) walked away with the gold medal in the K1 Men’s division. His ride earned him 1,240 points, while Peter Csonka (SVK) came second with 1,233 points and Tomasz Czaplicki (POL) came in third with 1,208 points.
The 2013 ICF World Freestyle Championships was another raging success. The Nantahala Outdoor Centre did a phenomenal job hosting the events, especially with the inclusion of the LiveFeed and the automated scoring system, which made the event extremely spectator friendly. It will be interesting to watch the up and coming athletes over the next two years as they prepare for the next competition, with the scores we saw throughout the event this week, who knows what’s coming next in 2015.
