Australian eyes were on the battle between Lucien Delfour and Jaxon Merritt for their Olympic berth, with both men having earned one victory apiece in the opening two selection trials.

It meant the Championships would prove decisive in the best of three series, however neither kayaker was able to trouble the top European talent on show, with athletes from all countries eligible to compete.

The London 2012 Olympic silver medallist Vavrinec Hradilek ultimately claimed the race win, with the Czech completing the course in 1 min 32.08 seconds.

Germany’s Sebastian Schubert was able to replicate Hradilek in producing a clean run, but ended 0.09 behind the 2013 world champion.

Vit Prindis claimed bronze in 1:34.48, as the Czech Republic secured four of the top five positions in the standings.

A seventh place finish for Delfour was enough to secure his place on the Australian Olympic team with his time of 1:37.78 proving 0.68 quicker than his team-mate Merritt.

“I am really happy, I feel like I deserve it but I am just really relieved,” said the French Polynesian born paddler, who received Australian citizenship in 2015.

“It has been a really long wait, especially those last two months, it was just all about Rio.

“I have never been to the Games so I do not know what it is like, to be honest, but the difference is you know at selections you just have everything to lose and not that much to win apart from that spot on the team.

“But at the Games you hopefully can enjoy the event.”

The women’s C1 event, which does not feature on the Olympic programme, was claimed by world number one Jessica Fox.

The Australian picked up three penalties during the final but was still able to post the fastest time of the event in 1:59.02.

Her team-mate Rosalyn Lawrence finished 1.24 adrift to claim silver, while Jessica’s sister Noemie completed the podium in 2:01.54.