Canadian Doubles, Slalom, Men

The Slovakian Hochschorner twins, Pavol and Peter, had been the 2000, 2004, and 2008 Olympic Champions in the Men’s C-2 Slalom, but had been bested by Britain’s Tim Baillie and Etienne Stott in 2012. Nonetheless, Slovakia’s prospects remained considerable in Rio thanks to another set of relatives, cousins Ladislav and Peter Škantár, who were the 2007, 2010, and 2014 European Champions, 2008 European and 2009 World runners-up, and bronze medallists, at the 2011, 2013, and 2014 Worlds and 2004, 2005, and 2011 Europeans. Britain, meanwhile, was represented by David Florence and Richard Hounslow, the 2012 Olympic runners-up, as well as the 2013 World Champions, and the 2010 World and 2010 and 2015 European bronze medallists. Other contenders were Germany’s Franz Anton and Jan Benzien, the reigning World Champions and 2015 European runners-up, and Slovenia’s Luka Božič and Sašo Taljat, the 2014 World Champions, 2016 European runners-up, and 2009 World and 2014 European bronze medallists.

The Škantár cousins had little trouble winning the preliminaries, although the French duo of Gauthier Klauss and Matthieu Péché, the 2015 World bronze medallists, were able to finish ahead of Florence and Hounslow. The semifinals were won by Anton and Benzien, while Florence and Hounslow remained third behind Czechs Jonáš Kašpar and Marek Šindler. Kašpar and Šindler were impressive in the finals as well, but flipped over during their run, which ended their chances for a medal. The Škantár cousins, therefore, took gold without much trouble, and were followed by Great Britain and France respectively on the podium.