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Mallory Franklin is Great Britain’s most successful female canoeist
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The C1 discipline will be included at the Olympic Games for the second time this summer
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Franklin competed at the 2009 World Championships when she was just 15 years old
The most successful British female canoeist of all-time, Mallory Franklin is a women’s C1 and K1 slalom canoeist and she won the silver medal for Team GB at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.
While she isn’t one of the biggest sports betting names on the Team GB roster, Franklin has enjoyed plenty of success in slalom canoeing over the past decade.
With nine ICF Canoe Slalom World Championship medals, 13 European Championship medals and a World Cup crown to her name, Franklin is a leading figure in the sport.
Here, we take a closer look at Mallory Franklin’s canoeing career. Can she justify favouritism and win Olympic gold in the C-1 event this year? Only time will tell…
Mallory Franklin Canoeing
According to an interview conducted in June 2021, Mallory started canoeing alongside her oldest brother when she was just five years old.
Franklin took to canoeing like a duck to water and she enjoyed training at her local leisure centre during her early years in the sport.
Mallory soon started to compete at national level and was asked to represent Great Britain in 2009 – she was just 15 years old at the time!
Now one of the most established names in the sport, Mallory Franklin is a leading contender for gold in the C-1 canoeing event this summer.
A gold medal at Paris 2024 would be a deserved reward after committing over 20 years to the sport. Now, it is time for Mallory Franklin to confirm her status as a canoeing legend.
Mallory Franklin Lee Valley
Lee Valley is Mallory Franklin’s home course and the venue will always have a special place in her heart.
However, the affinity to Lee Valley grew even stronger in June 2019 as Mallory clinched the gold medal in the C1 and K1 events at the World Cup.
The 27-year-old is already Great Britain’s most successful female canoeist and the triumphs at Lee Valley cements her status as one of the leading contenders in the C1 discipline.
Mallory will hope that her success at Lee Valley stands her in good stead for her Olympics debut and British fans will be fully behind her – either at Paris 2024 or from home.
Mallory Franklin C1
While Mallory Franklin has enjoyed success in both the K-1 and C-1 events, the British canoe star is arguably better suited to the C1 class.
For any canoe slalom newbies reading this, the K-1 event refers to Kayak Singles while C-1 is Canoe Singles.
The vast majority of Mallory Franklin’s gold medals have come in the C1 event and it was no surprise to see Team GB select her for the canoe singles squad in Paris - can she go one better than the silver medal won at Tokyo?
Franklin has had to wait her turn to represent Great Britain at the Olympics but her meteoric rise to power suggests that she will be tough to beat in the C-1 event this summer.
Jessica Fox is ranked number one in the world in the C-1 event and has won medals at each of the previous two Olympic Games. That experience gives her an edge on Mallory Franklin but the British canoeist is hot on her tail.
Mallory Franklin Instagram
At the time of writing, Mallory has around 2,200 Instagram followers. If she wins a medal at Tokyo 2021, that number is likely to soar before the end of the summer.
Unlike some of her fellow Team GB athletes, the Mallory Franklin Instagram account is well organised – with several highlights containing photographs and video clips.
From wedding planning and lockdown training to canoeing snapshots, Mallory has a strong Instagram portfolio despite her relatively small social media presence.
If you enjoy the canoe slalom events at Tokyo 2021, feel free to follow Mallory Franklin on Instagram via @mallorysfranklin. Fingers crossed she brings back the gold medal!
*Credit for the photos in this article belongs to Alamy*
