Bratislava - Slovenians kayak and canoe teams won two bronze medals at the outset of the Canoe Slalom World Championships on Thursday, in the men's team slalom and the men's team whitewater event.

Peter Kauzer, Martin Srabotnik and Niko Testen won the bronze medal in the men's team slalom behind France and Slovakia.

"It is a nice start [to the championships], although there is a slightly bitter aftertaste, because no one knows where we hit the gate," Kauzer said after the race.

"Nevertheless, a medal is a medal, as team events are a lottery, where everything must fall into its place ... now I hope that we will continue in this rhythm until the end of the championships," he added.

In the whitewater event, Anže Urankar, Simon Oven and Nejc Žnidarčič were bested only by the surprise winners Germany and France, missing the gold medal by just 0.58 of a second.

The trio, reigning European champions in the event, were happy about the medal given that Oven broke his seat on an artificial barrier, which makes it almost impossible to paddle.

"In the last ten years we were first seven times and second once. With this ride, we are happy to have gotten to bronze," Žnidarčič said.