The day before: official training and game on!
Second day of event at L’Argentière-la-Bessée and everyone is finally arrived on Durance river: 226 athletes from 19 countries are now in the French Alps and started the official training in the II-III level rapids.
The Downriver race will be 3 kms long and is scheduled for tomorrow morning as the first competition of the event, but the stream is going to raise tomorrow.
This morning the teams, divided into 2 groups, tried the last 2 kms of the Downriver, that includes the Slalom and RX course as the final part.
Tomorrow morning the teams will scout the first part, 1 km long, of the river, before the start of the competition.
This afternoon, after the Downriver training, the rafters paddled in the Stade d’eau vive “Michel Baudry”, trying the possible run of the Slalom race.
The number of the gates will be official on the race day, so the teams can paddle studying the possible combinations of green (downstream) and red (upstream) gates.
The possible gates’ number is between 10 to 15, while almost 50 gates are usually settled in the slalom course for canoe training.
28 men teams, 9 women teams, 13 mix teams and 5 Para Rafting teams finally attended the opening ceremony, raising the White Card, becoming part of the Peace and Sport movement that promotes international cooperation through the power of sport.
The opening ceremony in the centre of L’Argentière-la-Bessée saw the major Mr Patrick Vigne, the FFCK Rafting Manager Mr Bruno Carlier and the WRF President Mr Danilo Barmaz welcoming the athletes in the center of the village, in presence of the Peace and Sport Ambassador, the Olympian Marlène Harnois, who raised the White Card with the rafters, a symbol of peace and international cooperation through sport.
The 2021 World Rafting Championship is officially inaugurated, and tomorrow morning the first paddle strokes will open the Downriver: eyes on Durance!
Stay tuned on our Telegram for programmes and live results: https://t.me/worldrafting
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