Sick Paddling Earns Gold

Rotorua paddler Sam Sutton, 23, is still the fastest extreme kayaker in the world, defending his title with a new course record of 55.84 seconds at the Adidas Sickline Extreme Kayak World Championship in Germany’s Ötztal Valley. All of the Top 15 athletes from eleven different countries knew that if Sutton could repeat such a smooth “Sickline” in his final run, he would be unbeatable, despite the fact that several athletes clocked sub one minute this year. “I’m extremely happy with my final run,” Sutton said. “It’s all about just trying to stay consistent and smooth through the whole thing.”