China's Lu Li stole the show with her nations first K1 Women's gold on the final day of action at the 2014 ICF Canoe Slalom World Cup in London.
The 22-year-old put down the quickest run on the tough Lee Valley course ahead of world-class opposition to secure her first victory at international level and ensure a rare trip to the top step of the podium for a member of the Chinese canoe slalom team.
Ecstatic after her victory Li said, "I'm very happy and excited. I focused on ensuring a straight-line. It's amazing to win a World Cup medal."
Nanqin Cen (CHN) was the last female paddler from Asia's most populous nation to win gold after she secured the C1 Women's title at the 2010 ICF Canoe Slalom World Cup in Prague.
Fox fast but third
After setting the quickest qualifying time the stage was set for Jessica Fox (AUS), the London 2012 Olympic sliver medallist, to go one better on the testing Lee Valley Course. However, the 19-year-old was unable to match the speed of Li and Austria's Corinna Kuhnle.
Despite this an upbeat Fox was happy with her K1 efforts saying,"I had a good semi and I could hear that the final was a little bit slow, a few mistakes happening, so I think I was a little bit cautious in my paddling. But overall third place. I'm really happy with that."
Kuhnle, the 2010 and 2011 World Champion, clearly had a point to prove following a disappointment on her last outing in London at the Olympics and a below par performance at the recent European Championships.
"It was a really tough course and I think all the girls had a lot of troubles. I tried to just have a nice and smooth run. I had touches in the end and it wasn't as nice as I was hoping for but in the end it was enough,"said Kuhnle.
