The final day of the 2013 ICF World Cup 2 has concluded in Racice, Czech Republic, with Australia taking home two gold medals and two silver medals on the final day, with Wallace siblings Ken and Bernadette the stars.

Twenty nine year old dual Olympic medallist Ken Wallace began the gold rush for Australia on the final day, defending the K1 500 title he won a week ago in Szeged, Hungary, with an emphatic display of flatwater racing today.

Normally known for his powerful finishes, Wallace took control of the race from the very outset, leading the field through the 250, and was never headed winning in 1:44.01, 0.76 seconds ahead of Denmark’s Rene Holten Poulsen, with Czech paddler Josef Dostal third.

24 year old Lachlan Tame, who was racing in his first ever A Final finished seventh, 5.10 seconds behind Wallace, an encouraging display from the Australian Surf Life Saving single ski champion in just his second World Cup appearance.

Not to be outshone by older brother Ken, Bernadette backed up her K2 1000 heroics with Manly star Naomi Flood on Saturday, to win the women’s K1 5000 final in a one-two for Australia, with Flood finishing closely behind the popular Queenslander.

Wallace won in 22:16.90, 1.70 seconds ahead of Flood, with Belgium’s Lize Broekx closely following in third, 0.8 seconds behind Flood.

In the final event of the World Cup, Ken Wallace took the Australian medal tally to six, winning silver in the men’s K1 5000 behind Aleh Yurenia of Belarus.
Yurenia won in 19:49, 1.60 seconds ahead of Wallace, with Poulsen of Denmark once again trailing Wallace in third.

The silver has now taken Wallace’s 2013 World Cup tally to four (two gold, a silver and bronze), three of those coming in Racice this weekend, with his third place finish in the men’s Olympic discipline, the K1 1000 particularly impressive.

In other results on the final day Flood and Wallace could not repeat their K2 heroics, finishing eighth in the women’s K2 200 A final, while Tame finished ninth in the men’s K1 200 C final.

The third and final ICF World Cup will be held in Poznan, Poland from 31 May to 2 June.

Canoeing Australia