Para-canoeist Hope Gordon now heading for Europeans after notching up second and fourth place success at world championships
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Sutherland para-canoeist Hope Gordon has just missed out on a top placing at the 2022 Canoe Sprint and Paracanoe World Championships in Canada.
The competition took place at Lake Banook, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, from Wednesday to Sunday, August 3-7.
And the 26-year-old Rogart native qualified for the finals in both her classes - the VL3 200m and the KL3 200m kayak.
Plucky Hope, whose left leg was amputated some six years ago due to Complex Regional Pain Syndrome, came second in the VL3 final, held on the Friday. She just missed out on the top title to her UK team-mate Charlotte Henshaw.
Competitors in the VL classes use an outrigger canoe, called a Va'a, which has a support float on the side of the boat. The canoe is propelled by a single blade paddle.
And Hope came fourth in the KL3 200m kayak contest, held on Saturday. Her team-mate Laura Sugar took the number one spot.
Cheering her on from the sidelines were her parents, John and Rona Gordon, of West Langwell, Rogart. Their arrival was a surprise for Hope, who had not expected them to attend.
Mrs Gordon said Hope had done well to finish fourth in the kayak final as she had experienced problems with her boat.
Hope, who is an ambassador for Scottish amputee charity Finding Your Feet, is now heading to Munich to compete in the 2022 Multisport European Championships, which start next Thursday, August 18.
Mrs Gordon said: "We won't be able to go to the Europeans as we are both back at work. We will just have to shout from afar!"
On the eve of her departure to Canada, Hope, a full-time athlete based at the British Canoeing Centre in Nottingham, posted on social media: "Celebrating six years having five toes and a whole new chance of living and loving life."
