Kayak Singles, Slalom, Women

The Olympic program had experimented with canoe slalom events in 1972, but they did not become a permanent fixture until the 1992 Summer Games. France’s Myriam Jerusalmi and Germany’s Elisabeth Micheler had won the women’s K-1 at the 1989 and 1991 World Championships respectively, and were second and fourteenth after the first run. America’s Dana Chladek, runner-up at both tournaments, posted a significantly higher score than Micheler, while Micheler’s compatriot Kordula Striepecke, the 1991 World bronze medalist, was third. Micheler struck back in the second round, however, and had a great run that put her in the gold medal position. Chladek had no response to this, finishing 22nd, and settled for bronze after Australia’s Danielle Woodward, who had been 15th after the first run, managed to leap into second-place. Striepecke and Jerusalmi improved their times somewhat in the second portion, but not sufficiently to avoid slipping down to 6th and 21st respectively in the final rankings.