Canoe Slalom European Championships 2026 medal table: France top Ivrea, three medals for Zwolińska
- Published
- 2026-09-27T19:32:51+00:00
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- PaddleStats
Full competition results: ECA Canoe Slalom European Championships - Ivrea
France topped the medal table at the 2026 Canoe Slalom European Championships in Ivrea with three gold, four silver and two bronze medals. Poland's Klaudia Zwolińska left Italy with one of each colour: K1 gold on Friday, followed by silver in the kayak cross time trial and bronze in kayak cross on Saturday.
Twelve medal events were decided over three days, from 24 to 26 September: four individual and four team events in slalom, plus four in kayak cross. Athletes from 25 countries competed alongside Individual Neutral Athletes (AIN), with eight nations reaching the podium.
France tops the standings as Italy matches its nine medals
France and Italy each won nine medals, more than any other nation, but France's three golds put it ahead of the hosts' two. Czechia also won three titles and finished second, one silver medal behind France. Each team medal counts once towards a nation's total.
| Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| France | 3 | 4 | 2 | 9 |
| Czechia | 3 | 3 | 1 | 7 |
| Italy | 2 | 3 | 4 | 9 |
| Great Britain | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 |
| Poland | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| Slovakia | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Germany | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Spain | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
France led after two days, having won both men's team events and the individual C1 title through Yohann Senechault. There were no further French golds on Saturday, but Mathurin Madore's two silvers and Ianis Triomphe's kayak cross bronze helped secure first place in the standings. Senechault was the only athlete to finish the championships with two gold medals, winning both the individual and team C1 titles.
Italy had the most medals after Friday, with seven, but only one gold, from the women's C1 team event. The hosts' first individual title came on Saturday, when Giovanni De Gennaro won the kayak cross time trial. Four of Italy's nine medals were bronze.
Czechia climbed to second thanks to a strong final day. Tereza Kneblová and Matyáš Novák won the women's and men's kayak cross titles, adding to Jakub Krejčí's K1 gold. Slovakia won just one medal, but it was gold: Eliška Mintalová, Zuzana Panková and Soňa Stanovská took the women's K1 team title.
All twelve European champions in Ivrea
| Event | Winner | Nation | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Women's K1 | Klaudia Zwolińska | Poland | 94.69 s |
| Men's K1 | Jakub Krejčí | Czechia | 82.41 s |
| Women's C1 | Mallory Franklin | Great Britain | 100.47 s |
| Men's C1 | Yohann Senechault | France | 90.26 s |
| Women's K1 team | Mintalová, Panková, Stanovská | Slovakia | 97.06 s |
| Men's K1 team | Castryck, A. Delassus, Cornu | France | 86.30 s |
| Women's C1 team | Bertoncelli, Borghi, Micozzi | Italy | 102.54 s |
| Men's C1 team | Gestin, Senechault, Bernardet | France | 90.64 s |
| Women's kayak cross | Tereza Kneblová | Czechia | won final |
| Men's kayak cross | Matyáš Novák | Czechia | won final |
| Women's kayak cross time trial | Kimberley Woods | Great Britain | 48.02 s |
| Men's kayak cross time trial | Giovanni De Gennaro | Italy | 43.29 s |
A full set for Zwolińska and Franklin
Three athletes won three medals in Ivrea: Zwolińska, Great Britain's Mallory Franklin and Italy's Lucia Pistoni. Only Zwolińska and Franklin collected one of each colour. Zwolińska also accounted for all three of Poland's medals.
Her gold came in Friday's K1 final, where she was the only woman to break 95 seconds. A penalty-free run of 94.69 s put her 0.99 s ahead of Pistoni and 1.21 s clear of Germany's Emily Apel. Having won both the K1 and C1 world titles in Sydney in 2025, Zwolińska added the European K1 crown in Ivrea. She finished seventh in the C1 final after winning its semi-final in 101.15 s. Both races are covered in the day two report.
On Saturday, Zwolińska clocked 48.66 s in the time trial, second only to Kimberley Woods in 48.02 s. That earned her silver and the second seeding for the kayak cross knockout rounds. She then won her heat, quarter-final and semi-final before finishing third in the final behind Kneblová and Franklin.
Franklin won Friday's C1 final by just 0.03 s over France's Doriane Delassus, the smallest winning margin of the championships. She had already taken team C1 bronze alongside Woods and Ellis Miller on Thursday, and completed her set with kayak cross silver on Saturday. Pistoni won silver in the individual and team K1 events, plus bronze in the time trial.
No other Polish athlete reached the podium. The women's K1 team came closest: Zwolińska, Dominika Brzeska and Hanna Danek finished fourth, 2.75 s behind bronze medallists France. Mateusz Polaczyk reached the men's K1 final, but a 50-second penalty left him twelfth.
Four Polish paddlers made the kayak cross quarter-finals: Zwolińska, Brzeska, Marek Kulczycki and Polaczyk. Kulczycki, ninth in the time trial, finished third in his quarter-final behind De Gennaro and Triomphe. Brzeska also placed third in her race, while Polaczyk finished fourth.
Kayak cross: Kneblová wins as 17th seed, Novák sweeps the knockout rounds
Saturday's kayak cross competition began with the time trial. Athletes raced individually, with the fastest 32 in each event advancing to four-boat races. The time trials were medal events in their own right, but neither winner went on to claim the kayak cross title.
Woods set the fastest women's time but was eliminated in the quarter-finals, finishing fourth in her race. De Gennaro won the men's time trial in 43.29 s, 0.12 s ahead of Madore, before finishing last in his kayak cross semi-final and seventh overall.
Kneblová entered the knockout rounds as the 17th seed after recording 51.17 s in the time trial, 3.15 s behind Woods. She beat the top-seeded Briton in her opening heat, then advanced from their quarter-final in second place, again ahead of Woods. Kneblová went on to win both her semi-final and the final. Franklin, Zwolińska and Spain's Leire Goñi finished behind her in the medal race. It was the Czech paddler's second medal in Ivrea after Friday's C1 bronze.
The time trial was the only round Novák did not win: he placed fourth in 44.11 s. He then won his heat, quarter-final, semi-final and final. Madore took silver, Triomphe bronze and Krejčí finished fourth.
Novák had missed an individual medal in slalom, placing 13th in the K1 semi-final, 1.25 s behind the last qualifier. He did, however, win team K1 silver on Thursday alongside Krejčí and Jiří Prskavec.
Great Britain's Joseph Clarke, the Rio 2016 Olympic K1 champion, did not qualify for the knockout rounds. After finishing fifth in Friday's K1 final, he placed 47th in the time trial in 51.80 s.
Ivrea in numbers: three hundredths, clean medal runs and no titles retained
Every medallist in the four individual slalom finals completed a penalty-free run. In total, 29 of the 48 final runs were clean, while six included a 50-second penalty. One of those belonged to defending C1 champion Mònica Dòria, who finished twelfth and last.
Across the championships, 398 slalom runs were completed in the heats, semi-finals, finals and team events. Just over half — 200 — were penalty-free. At least one 50-second penalty was recorded in 39 runs.
The closest winning margins came in the women's canoe events. Franklin beat Delassus by 0.03 s in the individual C1, while Italy's C1 team edged France by 0.34 s. Krejčí had the largest winning margin in the men's K1, finishing 1.97 s ahead of Xabier Ferrazzi.
Penalties also proved decisive in the team events, where all three paddlers' errors count towards the result. The French men's K1 team won with a clean run, 0.58 s ahead of Czechia. Italy's women's C1 team was 1.66 s slower than France before penalties, but won after the French crew picked up a two-second penalty. Italy had none. Slovenia's men's C1 team accumulated 200 seconds in penalties and finished eleventh and last. Thursday's team finals are covered in the day one report.
None of the 2025 European champions retained an individual slalom title. Prskavec finished fourth in K1 with a two-second penalty, Dòria placed twelfth in C1, Miquel Travé went out in the C1 semi-final and Ricarda Funk did not compete.
The men's K1 had the largest field, with 58 starters in the heats. In the men's kayak cross time trial, 50 of the 54 entries were classified.
Next up: Asian Games slalom from 29 September
Results from every round, including split times and gate-by-gate penalties, are available on the Ivrea European Championships page. Sunday 27 September, scheduled as a reserve day, was not needed.
The next major slalom competition is at the 2026 Asian Games in Toyota, Aichi, from 29 September to 2 October.
Kayak cross joined the Olympic programme at Paris 2024. The Ivrea results offer a snapshot of Europe's leading contenders ahead of qualification for Los Angeles 2028. Czechia had three paddlers in Saturday's finals — Kneblová, Novák and Krejčí — and France had two, Madore and Triomphe. Franklin represented Great Britain in the women's final, while Woods won the women's time trial. Zwolińska left Ivrea with a medal of each colour and both the reigning world and European K1 titles.
Frequently asked questions
Who topped the medal table at the 2026 Canoe Slalom European Championships?
France, with three gold, four silver and two bronze medals. Czechia finished second with three gold, three silver and one bronze, ahead of Italy with two gold, three silver and four bronze. France and Italy each won nine medals, the highest totals of any nation.
How many medals did Poland win in Ivrea?
Three, all through Klaudia Zwolińska: K1 gold, kayak cross time trial silver and kayak cross bronze. Poland finished fifth in the medal table.
Who won the 2026 European kayak cross titles?
Tereza Kneblová and Matyáš Novák, both from Czechia. Kneblová entered the knockout rounds as the 17th seed, while Novák won all four of his knockout races.
Did anyone win more medals than Zwolińska?
No. Mallory Franklin and Lucia Pistoni also won three. Franklin matched Zwolińska's gold, silver and bronze, while Pistoni took two silvers and a bronze.
Did the time trial winners also win kayak cross?
No. Kimberley Woods was eliminated in the quarter-finals, while Giovanni De Gennaro finished last in his semi-final and seventh overall. Both won gold for the time trial, which was a separate medal event.
How many medals did host nation Italy win?
Nine, matching France's total. Italy won two golds, through the women's C1 team and De Gennaro in the time trial, plus three silvers and four bronzes. The hosts finished third behind France and Czechia, which each won three golds.
Did any 2025 European champion retain their title?
Not in the individual slalom events. Prskavec had the best finish, placing fourth in K1 with a two-second penalty. Dòria finished twelfth in C1, Travé went out in the C1 semi-final and Funk did not compete.
Which final had the smallest winning margin?
The women's C1. Mallory Franklin won in 100.47 s, just 0.03 s ahead of Doriane Delassus. Tereza Kneblová took bronze, 0.46 s behind the winner.