‘Mario Kart with boats’: Welcome to the wild ride of kayak cross, here to stay at the Olympics

Sign up to our free sport newsletter for all the latest news on everything from cycling to boxing Sign up to our free sport email for all the latest news Sign up to our free sport email for all the latest news SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Great Britain’s Joe Clarke and Kimberley Woods took silver and bronze as kayak cross made its Olympic debut at Vaires-sur-Marne, but the real winner was the sport. “I came into this event wanting to win gold and that didn’t happen but I’m not disappointed in any way,” he said, who is one of over 1,000 elite athletes on UK Sport’s National Lottery-funded World Class Programme, allowing them to train full time, have access to the world’s best coaches and benefit from pioneering medical support – which has been vital on their pathway to the Paris 2024 Games. open image in gallery Joe Clarke won silver after missing out on the podium in the slalom “I’m biased when I say this, but I think kayaking is the best sport in the world and kayak cross will get kayaking out there to the masses like it needs to do. open image in gallery Kimberley Woods won her second bronze medal of the Paris Games “The whole journey I’ve been on in the last ten years has been tough, it’s been up and down.