Barreras successfully defends her long-distance title on Friday and then times her finish to perfection to add the women’s technical gold to her world championship-week collection. Barreras sits in second position behind defending champion Melanie Lafenetre of France, before making her move deep into the final lap.

“This was absolutely not on my plans, I came here more focussed on the distance race,” Barreras said.

“But this morning I decided just to give it my all, this is my final race for the season. I went well with the temperature, and the wind, so I just pushed hard. In the race before I made all the mistakes that I had to make, so I decided not to make too many mistakes on this one. I felt good, I tried not to think too much about the conditions. I try to train in all conditions so I don’t have any surprises in the races, so I felt quite comfortable out there.” 

Lafenetre held on for second, ahead of a fast-finishing Juliette Duhaime of Argentina.

Connor Baxter (USA) traveled to Pattaya with the determination to defend both his sprint and technical gold medals, but after being beaten by Frenchman Noic Garioud in the sprint, he turned his focus to the one-kilometre technical race.

“When Noic edged me out, and I barely got to second, it was a little bittersweet, but it really fired me up,” Baxter said.

“When I came into this race I had one thing on my mind, and that was to go for gold. This kind of racing is my bread and jelly, this is what I love. This is technical, this really showcases stand up paddling. We know how to go straight, yes, but we also know how to turn, how to run with our boards, beach start – this is what it’s all about, and to defend that in a fashionable manner, and holding that lead from the start to the finish, that was my goal, and I did it.”

The race openes up for Baxter the moment Garioud, who was chasing his third title for the week, falls during a frenetic start. A group of three comes together to chase Baxter to the finish, with Peru’s Itzel Delgado eventually taking silver and Spain’s Antonio Morillo the bronze.

Results – Long Technical Finals

WOMEN’S OPEN

  1. BARRERAS Esperanza (ESP) 6:45.96
  2. LAFENETRE Melanie (FRA) 6:49.11
  3. DUHAIME Juliette (ARG) 6:49.38

MEN’S OPEN

  1. BAXTER Connor  (USA) 5:57.82
  2. DELGADO Itzel    (PER) 6:01.11
  3. MORILLO Antonio (ESP) 6:02.05
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