Zachary Lokken, who will not be competing in Rio, became the first American to reach a final at an ICF Slalom World Cup event this year and finished seventh in the men’s C1. Lokken grabbed the final spot in the final after a 107.84 semifinal time that included two penalty seconds and left him with a final margin of 0.08. His final time of 109.47 also included two penalty seconds and was over seven seconds behind the top three. The other American semifinalist on the day, Richard Powell, was eliminated in the men’s K1 semifinal after placing 38th as he took 54 penalty seconds.

Later in the day Powell was fourth in the cross time trial in 63.23 and qualified for the 1/8 finals as did Tyler Westfall who was 20th in 68.67. The field for this event continues to grow and despite restrictions on how many athletes could advance from each country advancing there were a full 32 for the 1/8 finals. Powell was eliminated after finishing third in his heat while Westfall also finished third after being disqualified in his heat. The US had finalists in each of the previous two contests so to not even get one into the quarterfinals was a bit surprising. On the women’s side Sage Donnelly was ninth in the time trial in 75.69 and will compete in the quarterfinals on Sunday.

In additions to Donnelly in the women’s cross event Ashley Nee will be competing in the semifinals of the women’s K1 with the final being held later in the day.

Previous ICF Slalom World Cup Coverage:
Pau Preview
Friday Update