On the penultimate day of the 2023
ECA Wildwater Canoeing European Championships in Skopje athletes competed in
sprint heats and fought for the places in Saturday's final. Paddlers from
Slovenia and France were the most successful, French representatives won in
three events and Slovenian in two.
Maxence Barouh (FRA) who was crowned
European Champion in classic event of the European Championships in North
Macedonia made a good step towards double European Champion title. He was the
fastest in men's kayak heats, finishing the course 0.03 seconds ahead of his
teammate Luca Barone. Third results of the heats was produced by Anže Urankar
(SLO), and reigning World Champion Nejc Žnidarčič (SLO) was fourth. Saturday's
final is expected to be heart stopping with French and Slovenian paddlers
fighting for the top spots. In 2017, when Skopje last hosted the senior
Wildwater Canoeing European Championships, Slovenian kayakers took all three
medals with Vid Debeljak winning the gold, Žnidarčič silver and Urankar bronze.
Slovenian Ana Šteblaj was the best in
women's kayak heats. Young paddler from Ljubljana finished fourth at the last
senior European Championships in Sabero, and now wishes to take a step forward
in Skopje. She was 0.32 seconds faster than Lisa Koestle from Germany, while
Czech kayaker Marie Nemcova set the third fastest time of the day.
Blaž Cof, another Slovenian who has
high goals for Saturday's sprint final, won in men's canoe heats. Former World
Champion in this discipline returned to high level competitions after a couple
of years. Cof outsprinted two French canoeists Charles Ferrion and Nicolas
Sauteur who were second and third respectively in the first heats run. The top
three athletes were separated by less than half a second.
Cecilia Panato, classic European
Champion, found the fastest lines in women's canoe heats. Young Italian was
0.40 seconds faster than Marie Nemcova from Czech Republic in second place,
while her sister Alice Panato crossed the finish line with the third result of
the day.
Panato sisters, who are the new
classic European Champions, had to settle with second place in women's C2
heats. Margot Beziat and Eve Vitali-Gulbert from France were those who had the
best time of day in this event. They stopped the clock at 52.59. Kristina Novosadova
and Karolina Paloudova (CZE) were third.
France's Canadian doubles were the
best in men's heats. Pierre Troubady and Hugues Moret set the fastest time of
the day. Their compatriots Manoel Roussin and Tnaguy Roussin were 0.68 seconds
behind in second place, while Czechs Matouš Beier and Matej Vanek finished
third.
Saturday brings a rich programme.
Athletes will first fight for the European Champion titles in individual sprint
final, then will follow masters races and team sprint races.
Livestreaming is available on the
Canoe Europe Channel, however, due to the technical limitations and internet
connection issues at the venue in Matka Canyon, it is possible the streaming
will not work properly. We ask you for understanding. Thank you!
WEBSITE:
LIVE RESULTS:
https://siwidata.com/canoe123/live?SessionKey=kosta.2023051700
LIVE STREAM:
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