Germany won the first gold of the Championships, with women's K1 Olympic champion Ricarda Funk joining Elena Lilik and Jasmin Schornberg in a successful 1min 42.78sec women's team kayak run at the Augsburg Eiskanal.

Slovenia came through in second 2.48sec off the pace, while Poland finished third in 1:49.25 despite picking up a two-second penalty.

Tokyo 2020 K1 bronze medallist Hannes Aigner competed with Noah Hegge and Stefan Hengst for Germany in the men's team kayak event, and the trio earned victory in 1:31.90.

Joe Clarke, Bradley Forbes-Cryans and Chris Bowers of Britain claimed silver in 1:33.68, and would have taken gold if not for an early two-second penalty.

France took third place in 1:35.67.

In the first canoe event, Czech Republic successfully defended their women's team title.

Gabriela Satková, her sister Martina Satková and Tereza Fišerová picked up six seconds in penalties, but were still able to claim victory in 1:55.35.

Hosts Germany took second in 1:56.85, with Britain one second further back in third.

The other gold medal went to Slovenia in the men's team canoe, who won the event at the World Championships for the first time in 29 years.

Luka Božič and Anže Berčič joined individual Olympic champion Benjamin Savšek in finishing in 1:35.48, beating Slovakia by 2.94sec.

Italy rounded off the podium in 1:40.64.

Competition at the Canoe Slalom World Championships continues tomorrow with heats in the men's and women's kayak.