Kerry Christie: The family ties helping Great Britain's triple junior world champion

Kerry (right) and Emma Christie completed a medal double in the classic and sprint distances

Before this month's Junior and Under-23 Wildwater Canoeing World Championships, Great Britain had not won a gold medal in the sport for 13 years.

Now, 20-year-old Kerry Christie has three - becoming a triple world champion just four years after taking up the sport competitively.

One of those came in a tandem canoe with her sister Emma, with the pair part of a British team managed by their dad Jamie - who himself won a team medal at the 2009 European Championships.

"It was lovely to be on the podium together with Emma. We get on so well, it makes paddling together easier, and that makes us quicker," Kerry said.

Kerry and Emma grew up cheering on their dad Jamie, who represented Britain in wildwater canoeing for 20 years.

"I can't quite believe what they've achieved, but I'm sure it will sink in eventually," he said.

"Kerry has started to realise she could do something really nice in the sport and pull people along with her, helping the sport develop and grow as a role model."

Kerry won five medals in total at the championships in the Czech Republic.

"It feels amazing - I still can't really believe it," said Kerry.

"I haven't got my head around the fact I'm a triple world champion and won a medal in every race but one. It's crazy."

'I'm really not a sprinter'

In the classic races, run over a longer 3.8km course, Kerry claimed the U23 women's kayak gold and then won the C2 final with Emma.

She then picked up her third world title in the kayak team event with Molly Sandercock and Lucy Guest, who had earlier won an individual bronze.

A classic specialist, Kerry had no ambition of medalling in the shorter sprint races, but won the C2 silver with Emma before completing the set with kayak team bronze with Guest and Laura Milne.

"I'm really not a sprinter so I didn't think a medal was possible, let alone two," she added.

The sisters' first taste of competitive canoeing was in slalom with the Leicestershire-based Break Out Canoe club, but only took to wildwater seriously after a trip to the 2019 World Championships.

They were invited along to a camp in Bosnia-Herzegovina to train with the British squad, yet ended up competing.

"That's what got me hooked," Kerry added.

"I knew then I wanted to do this and get better. Afterwards I said to dad 'I want to be on the podium one day and win gold'."

'The next minute Kerry was beating me'

Jamie Christie competed for Great Britain from 1996 to 2016 and continues to paddle at international masters events

The extended downtime during national Covid-19 lockdowns allowed them to train hard and develop their speed and endurance, paddling on the canal next to their Gilmorton home in Leicestershire.

"We used that as our daily exercise," recalled Jamie.

"After three months they were keeping up with me and then the next minute Kerry was beating me. I thought they might have some potential."

The sisters are both students at Nottingham Trent University and train a short hop down the road with Nottingham Kayak Club at the National Water Sports Centre at Holme Pierrepont.

Despite being largely self-funded, they have not only held their own but also beaten full-time paddlers on the international stage and hope their efforts inspire a new generation into wildwater.

Kerry said: "It would be really great if I could encourage more junior women to get into the sport."

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