Kayak Cross has a permanent home at Lee Valley White Water Centre

Our world class Lee Valley White Water Centre just got better with the introduction of a new Kayak Cross Ramp.

GB’s top kayak cross athletes Joe Clarke MBE, Mallory Franklin and Kimberley Woods, who all won medals in the sport last year, were the first athletes to use the ramp, which is the first of its kind to be installed on a permanent basis.

Kayak cross, formerly known as extreme slalom, will make its Olympic debut in Paris next year. The high octane event sees four paddlers start from an elevated ramp into the white water rapids to race simultaneously around poles, testing the athletes power, strength and tactical acumen.

Since its introduction to the programme, Britain have made a big impact on the international stage, winning World Championship medals at senior, U23 and junior level.

Joe Clarke, 2016 Olympic gold medallist and two-time Kayak Cross World Champion will be looking to make it a hat-trick at the home world championships at Lee Valley White Water Centre in September. He is delighted with the new facility.

“It’s a fantastic thing to have at our training venue, we’ve got the gate system and have been training hard on them and have been making good progress. The start in kayak cross is so important, and now we can train that start, we have the whole package and can keep pushing on and challenging for medals.

“The home world championships are going to be amazing, the crowd will be electric and it would be fantastic to do the triple in front of a home crowd.”

This exciting addition propels Lee Valley White Water Centre to the forefront of this hugely popular and growing sport. For Centre manager Jon Lea it’s a big win for the athletes who train at this exceptional facility, widely regarded as one of the best in the world.

“The introduction of the Kayak Cross ramp as a permanent feature at Lee Valley White Water Centre is a transformative milestone. It will empower the athletes who train at our exceptional facility, enabling them to enhance their skills and undergo a distinctive training journey unlike any other destination worldwide. It should also give them the edge ahead of the ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships that we are hosting in September. It will also help develop the continued popularity of the sport.”

The state of the art ramp was jointly funded by Lee Valley Regional Park Authority, British Canoeing, UK Sport and Sport England.?