Claire O'Hara wins Ninth Freestyle World Title

Great Britain’s Claire O’Hara has won her fifth ICF World Championship squirt boat title with a thrilling final run on the opening day of competition at San Juan in Argentina.

Photo: Peter Holcombe

It was a fantastic first day for Britain, with Alex Edwards and David Rogers adding a silver and bronze in the men’s competition.

It was on Claire’s final run that she clinched the gold medal position, hitting the 1000 point mark.

Japan’s Hitomi Takaku moved into the lead in the women’s competition with her final run, which left Claire with the task of posting a show stopping score with the last run of the competition to take the World Championship.

Speaking after clinching her ninth freestyle world title, Claire said: “I knew after Hitomi’s last ride that it was going to be close, and then she took the lead and I thought ‘okay, game on!

“And then I started, and it was falling to pieces and I thought ‘oh no, here we go’.

“I just had to totally reset, and I knew if I got three or four of my main tricks and my mystery it would be game on. I’m just so happy, all day I haven’t been able to hit a 1000, and then I did it.

“This one is probably one of the hardest.

“Normally about 2000 points is what we’re aiming for, but this venue is so challenging, unbelievably hard.

“I wanted it, and I’m so happy that I’ve got it.”

Meanwhile, in the men’s squirt boat competition there were two British athletes taking to the podium, with Alex Edwards securing a silver medal and David Rogers clinching bronze.