Poznan 2026 World Championships day 3 results: eight finals, two golds on the kilometre
- Published
- 2026-08-29T07:59:37+00:00
- Author
- PaddleStats
Full competition results: ICF Canoe Sprint and Paracanoe World Championships - Poznan
The Poznan 2026 canoe sprint world championships handed out their first eight sets of medals on Friday, and the host nation's came from Oleksii Koliadych in the C1 200 m. The men's canoe kilometre finished the way no coach ever plans for: two gold medals, and a third man two hundredths of a second adrift.
Overview
| Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Germany | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| Hungary | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| AIN (neutral athletes) | 1 | 1 | 4 | 6 |
| Australia | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| China | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Czechia | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Poland | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Spain | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Italy | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Ukraine | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Uzbekistan | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Denmark | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Japan | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Portugal | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Friday opened at nine in the morning and for the next five hours looked like any other qualifying day: 25 semifinals, six B finals and two Special Olympics showcase races. The part that counted lasted fifty minutes. The block of eight A finals began at 15:04, ended at 15:53, and produced 24 medals — nine of them gold, because one race crowned two champions. Across the day 353 boats went afloat, carrying 460 athletes from 63 nations and delegations. Neither of the first two days had produced a medal: 69 heats on Wednesday and 62 races on Thursday only sorted the field.
Fourteen teams took something home, and only the neutral athletes collected all three colours. Germany won two titles — the men's K4 and the women's C2 — plus bronze in the women's K4. Hungary also won two, both over 1000 metres. The neutrals ended the day with six medals, more than anyone, but only one of them gold. Poland has exactly one medal, and it is the best colour available.
Friday was also the day the stopwatch ran out of room. Six times two boats were given the same time. Four of those stood — gold in the men's C1 1000 m, fourth in the women's K4, fifth in the women's K1 1000 m, seventh in the men's C1 200 m. Twice the thousandths separated what the hundredths could not.
A kilometre decided by two hundredths
Zakhar Petrov led. He led at 250 metres (57.38), he led at halfway (2:00.89), he led with 250 to go (3:05.27) — and he finished third. The neutral paddler, born in 2002, fronted the entire race and lost it in the last strokes to two rivals at once.
Behind him were two men who had carved the kilometre up completely differently. Martin Fuksa went through the first quarter last in the field, 1:01.77, ninth of nine. He was sixth at halfway and fifth with 250 to go. His closing 250 took 59.14 seconds, the fastest last quarter in the race and 3.05 quicker than Petrov's. Daniel Fejes built his race more evenly — fourth, third, third — and closed his last quarter in 1:00.39.
They crossed the line together on 4:07.44. Not a hundredth between them, not a thousandth. The Hungarian and the Czech each received gold, no silver was awarded, and bronze went to Petrov on 4:07.46. Serghei Tarnovschi, second for three quarters of the race, finished fourth at 1.30. Ninth and last was Isaquias Queiroz in 4:22.13.
For Fuksa it is a third world title over the distance, after 2023 and 2025, and the first he has had to share. He had not won a heat or a semifinal in Poznan; the quickest time of both rounds belonged to China's Shengyue Wu, who came home seventh in the final. For Fejes it is a first world title in the single canoe, adding to his C2 1000 m silver from 2024 and the C4 gold he won in Milan.
An hour earlier Zsoka Csikos had run the other kilometre in precisely the opposite manner. The Hungarian took the lead at 250 metres on 59.20 and never gave it back, winning by 2.81 from Laia Pelachs, with Pernille Knudsen third. Csikos was defending the title she won in Milan and is the only champion of the day to retain one outright.
Weronika Marczewska, in her first senior world final, came seventh in 4:19.80 — seventh at 250, eighth at halfway, seventh at the line, 2.50 off bronze. In July she won the U23 world title in the K2 500 m in Halifax and took bronze there over 1000 metres.
Koliadych, a third title and Poland's first medal
The C1 200 m lasts a shade over forty seconds and on Friday it packed three men into two tenths. Koliadych won in 40.95, Artur Guliev lost 0.10, and Andrei Zholabau, born in 2006, 0.20. Brazil's Gabriel Assuncao Nascimento was fourth at 0.44, Pablo Grana fifth at 0.56.
It is Koliadych's third world title in the event, after Dartmouth in 2022 and Samarkand in 2024, on top of bronze in 2023 and fourth place in Milan. What makes it strange is the season behind it: fourth at the European championships in Montemor-o-Velho, sixth in Szeged, fourth in Brandenburg, fourth in Montreal. Four international starts, no podium — and then a world title in the fifth.
He also reversed the Milan result. A year ago Guliev won it and Koliadych was fourth; this time the Uzbek finished a tenth behind him.
The rest of the Polish boats went home without medals but not without arguments. The women's K4 — Sandra Ostrowska, Dominika Putto, Julia Olszewska and Katarzyna Kosciolek — was third at halfway, a hundredth up on Germany. The second 250 cost them the podium: 1:40.94 at the line, fourth place shared with Slovakia, 1.01 short of bronze. China won it in 1:38.67, and Spain and Germany split silver and bronze by two hundredths.
The men's K4 — Jakub Stepun, Jaroslaw Kajdanek, Valerii Vichev, Slawomir Witczak — had the slowest halfway split in the field at 41.47 and clawed back two places on the run home, finishing seventh at 2.13. Amelia Marcinkowska and Maja Ruzanowska won seventh in the women's C2 B final, Wiktor Glazunow fourth in the C1 1000 m B final.
The semifinals read better. Anna Pulawska, defending champion in the K1 500 m, won her heat in 2:04.73; only Pauline Jagsch at 2:01.75 and Aimee Fisher at 2:03.79 went quicker. Katarzyna Sobczak won the KL3 semifinal in 52.96, the best time of the round by 1.50 over the other semifinal winner. Monika Kukla topped the VL3 semifinals in 1:05.35. Dorota Borowska, Aleksander Kitewski, Przemyslaw Korsak and Robert Wydera all dropped into B or C finals.
One year on from Milan: same six events, mostly new champions
A coincidence, but a useful one: these exact six championship events were decided a year ago at the Milan world championships. The comparison is not subtle.
| Event | 2025 champion (Milan) | Time | 2026 champion (Poznan) | Time | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| K4 M 500 m | Portugal | 1:18.93 | Germany | 1:23.95 | +5.02 |
| K4 W 500 m | Spain | 1:32.58 | China | 1:38.67 | +6.09 |
| C2 W 500 m | Ukraine | 1:53.30 | Germany | 2:01.65 | +8.35 |
| C1 M 1000 m | Martin Fuksa | 3:46.09 | Fuksa and Daniel Fejes | 4:07.44 | +21.35 |
| K1 W 1000 m | Zsoka Csikos | 3:50.46 | Zsoka Csikos | 4:11.95 | +21.49 |
| C1 M 200 m | Artur Guliev | 0:38.63 | Oleksii Koliadych | 0:40.95 | +2.32 |
Six events, two titles retained, and one of those had to be split. Every winning time was slower than a year ago, and the losses fall into a pattern: six per cent over 200 metres, six to seven and a half over 500, more than nine over both kilometres. The longer the race, the heavier the toll. Times from Malta and from Milan cannot be set side by side — what carries between the two meets is the spacing between boats.
The biggest change in that table is called Carlotta Loske. Born in 2007, and racing with Maike Jakob, she set the tempo from the gun — 58.29 at halfway, quickest in the field — and held it to the line in 2:01.65. Liudmyla Luzan and Anastasiia Rybachok came through 0.63 later. The Ukrainian left Milan with four world titles, this event among them; on Friday she was only fifth at halfway. Loske's season already includes the U23 world title in the C1 500 m in Halifax in July and sixth place in the same event at the European championships. From a junior-age podium to the senior summit inside one season.
On the other side of that table sit Zoe Wojtyk and Katie Vincent. The Canadians took silver in this event in Milan, and Vincent is the Paris Olympic champion in the C1 200 m and a multiple world champion. In Poznan they finished eighth, 4.79 down; only the last boat in the final went through halfway more slowly.
Paracanoe went the other way and produced something close to a rerun. The men's VL1 podium held exactly the same three names as last year, with the top two swapped: Benjamin Sainsbury won in 1:04.65 from Ilya Taupianets at 0.22, with Artur Chuprov third. The Australian now has two world titles in the class, after 2023. In the women's VL1 the silver and bronze also stayed put — Viktoryia Pistis Shablova and Monika Seryu — while the gold went to Aleksandra Dupik in 1:14.79. Milan's champion, Chinette Lauridsen, moved up to VL2 this season and was second in her semifinal on Friday.
What's next: thirteen A finals on Saturday
On Saturday 29 August the Poznan world championships hand out thirteen sets of medals, the biggest haul of the five days. Two KL1 finals go in the morning; the afternoon block runs from 15:04 to 16:12 and covers both C1 500 m titles, the women's K1 500 m, the men's K1 1000 m, four paracanoe classes, the men's K1 200 m, the women's C2 200 m and the men's C4 500 m.
Poland has boats in four of those finals. Pulawska defends her K1 500 m title, Sobczak races the KL3 with the fastest semifinal time behind her, Wojciech Pilarz lines up in the K1 200 m, and the men's C4 closes the Saturday programme. In the K1 1000 m semifinals the quickest man was Thomas Green at 3:51.97, while Fernando Pimenta beat Balint Kopasz by 0.24 in the third.
Sunday closes the meet with fifteen finals, four of them over 5000 metres, and Kukla's VL3 final. Points from every one of these races feed the ranking that opens the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic qualification cycle, which makes places off the podium matter more than usual.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who won on day 3 of the Poznan 2026 world championships?
Eight golds, nine champions:
- women's K4 500 m — China (1:38.67)
- men's K4 500 m — Germany (1:23.95)
- women's C2 500 m — Carlotta Loske and Maike Jakob (2:01.65)
- men's C1 1000 m — Martin Fuksa and Daniel Fejes, dead heat (4:07.44)
- women's K1 1000 m — Zsoka Csikos (4:11.95)
- men's C1 200 m — Oleksii Koliadych (40.95)
- men's VL1 200 m — Benjamin Sainsbury (1:04.65)
- women's VL1 200 m — Aleksandra Dupik (1:14.79)
Who won Poland's first medal of the Poznan world championships?
Oleksii Koliadych, gold in the C1 200 m on Friday 28 August, winning in 40.95 from Artur Guliev and Andrei Zholabau. The first two days of the meet were heats and semifinals, so Friday's block was the first chance at a medal for anybody.
How can two paddlers both win gold over 1000 metres?
Fuksa and Fejes crossed the line on an identical 4:07.44 and the timing could not separate them at thousandths either. Two golds are awarded in that case, no silver is given, and the next boat home takes bronze — here Zakhar Petrov on 4:07.46.
What was the fastest time on day 3 in Poznan?
Among the championship events the lowest number on the clock was Germany's 1:23.95 in the men's K4 500 m. Over 200 metres the quickest was Koliadych's 40.95.
Is Martin Fuksa still the man to beat over 1000 metres?
By a narrower margin every year. He won a third title, but he did not win a heat or a semifinal in Poznan, he went through the first quarter of the final in last place, and for the first time in his career he had to share the gold. In Milan a year ago he beat the runner-up by 1.83. This time third place was two hundredths away.
Does Canada have a problem in the women's canoe?
One boat is not a diagnosis, but the numbers are ugly. Wojtyk and Vincent were second in Milan, 1.06 off the champions; in Poznan they were eighth at 4.79. Vincent also missed the A final of the C1 500 m at the Montreal World Cup this season. Saturday and Sunday will answer it properly — Canada still has the C2 200 m and the C4 to come.
Are Germany taking over the women's canoe?
It looks that way. Loske and Jakob's gold is a first senior world title for both, and Loske was born in 2007. Hedi Moana Kliemke also reached Saturday's C1 500 m final with the third-fastest time in her semifinal. Germany left Friday with two golds, the best haul of the day.
Why are the times in Poznan slower than in Milan?
Different water, different week. The championships opened with two days of racing straight into the wind on Malta, and a headwind costs more the longer the race runs. Across the six events settled on Friday the winning times were down on Milan by 2.32 seconds over 200 metres, five to eight over 500 and more than 21 over both kilometres. Compare the gaps between boats, not the clock.
Saturday matters more to the hosts than Friday did: four Polish boats in A finals, Anna Pulawska defending a title and Katarzyna Sobczak carrying the quickest semifinal time of her class. Oleksii Koliadych, so far the only medallist in Polish colours at these Poznan world championships, has the weekend off — his work took forty seconds and change.