Denis Gargaud Chanut is through to the C1 semi-finals at the ICF World Cup in Augsburg ©Getty Images

Denis Gargaud Chanut of France, the Rio 2016 C1 champion, qualified for the semi-finals on his return to the International Canoe Federation (ICF) Canoe Slalom World Cup in Augsburg in Germany today.

Gargaud Chanut missed last weekend’s season opener in Prague after he delayed his return to training.

However, he showed very few signs of rustiness as he made it through at the Augsburg Eiskanal in a time of 1 min 41.97sec.

It was not the quickest time of the day though with that honour going to Slovenia’s Benjamin Savsek in 1:39.70.

Germany’s Sideris Tasiadis, who won in Prague last weekend, posted the second fastest time of 1:40.15.

Former overall World Cup champion Matej Benus also progressed despite incurring two penalties.

He posted a time of 1:41.54 which saw him through to Sunday’s semi-finals.

The Czech Republic’s Jiri Prskavec was fastest in the men’s K1 competition.

The Rio 2016 bronze medallist finished over half a second quicker than his nearest rival in 1:33.28.

Slovakia’s Jakub Grigar took second on 1:33.94 with home favourite Sebastian Schubert completing the top three in 1:33.96.

The Czech Republic’s Jiri Prskavec was fastest in the men’s K1 competition ©ICF
The Czech Republic’s Jiri Prskavec was fastest in the men’s K1 competition ©ICF

“I was pretty happy with last week (in Prague), it was my first medal since 2014, so I was pretty happy to be back on the podium,” Schubert said.

"I’m a bit more relaxed now then the past two years.

"I did a lot training and I was sometimes a bit too tired.

"This year it’s more fluid, training is a bit more fun.”

In the women’s K1 event, Britain’s Mallory Franklin posted the fastest time of the day in 1:43.19.

Olympic champion Maialen Chourraut of Spain was in 10th place today with her time of 1:47.52.

In the women’s C1 Great Britain’s Kimberley Woods continued her cracking 2017 form by qualifying first ahead of triple world champion, Jessica Fox of Australia.

Woods has won the European title and then the opening World Cup last weekend.

Her time of 1:55.22 put her ahead of Fox, on 1:58.02 with four seconds of penalties, with Spain’s Nuria Vilarrubla third in 1:58.89, also with two gate touch penalties.

Augsburg Eiskanal is the venue where the sport made its Olympic debut in 1972 when the Games were held in Munich.

Action is due to continue tomorrow with semi-final and finals action in the C1 women’s and K1 men’s disciplines.