Kayak Singles, Slalom, Women

Two former Olympic women’s K-1 slalom champions, Štěpánka Hilgertová of the Czech Republic (1996 and 2000) and Elena Kaliská (2004) returned to the Games in 2008 to vie for glory once more. Kaliská had been the 2005 European and 2006 World Champion, as well as the 2007 World runner-up, while Hilgertová was the 2008 European champion, the 2005 European runner-up, and the 2007 European and World bronze medalist. Germany’s Jennifer Bongardt was the 2007 World Champion , the 2006 European runner-up, and the 2006 World bronze medalist, while Austria’s Violetta Oblinger-Peters was the 2007 European champion.

Kaliská had the highest score in the qualification round, while Hilgertová and Bongardt were third and fourth respectively behind China’s Li Jingjing. Oblinger-Peters, meanwhile, was sixth. The Beijing Olympics introduced a one-round semi-final for the remaining 15 participants, which eliminated Li and Bongardt. Kaliská won this round as well, with Hilgertová third behind France’s Emilie Fer, who was then relatively unknown, but who would go on to win the event at the 2012 Summer Olympics. Oblinger-Peters, meanwhile, sank even further to seventh. These rankings were unchanged after the first run of the final, and Kaliská won the second run by a large margin and successfully defended her Olympic title. Oblinger-Peters, meanwhile, finally improved her position to third, which, due to Fer and Hilgertová finishing seventh and ninth respectively, was sufficient to earn her a bronze medal. Sandwiched in the middle was Australia’s Jacqui Lawrence, who had been fourth after the first run, but was second in the final portion and collected enough points to capture the silver medal.