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Slovenian paddlers had another exceptional season 2023, in which they celebrated World and European Champion titles, as well as medals at World Cups. As many as 39 representatives of Canoe Federation of Slovenia won at least a medal at major international competitions in last season. The selection of the best was again challenging, at the end Benjamin Savšek and Ana Šteblaj won the titles of paddlers of the year.

For the first time in her career, Ana Šteblaj received the title of the best athlete of the year of the Canoe Federation of Slovenia, and at the same time she also became the best wildwater competitor this year. The 21-year-old kayaker from Ljubljana has an excellent season behind her. In Czechia, she won the U23 Wildwater Sprint Canoeing World Champion title, at the senior European championship she was second in the same discipline and with Nika Ozimc and Živa Jančar she won team bronze at the senior World Championship in Augsburg. At the same time, Ana achieved two more victories in the World Cup and was third overall in this series of competition. She also competed successfully at the Junior and U23 Canoe Sprint European Championships in Portugal, where she paddled in the A final over 500 meters and was seventh.

Unlike Ana, this time Benjamin Savšek became the best athlete of the Slovenian Federation for the fourth time in a row. He was also the best in 2013, 2015 and 2017. He won another title thanks to the gold medal from the Canoe Slalom World Championship in London, where he became the champion for the second time in his career. In 2023, he also won the World Cup race in Prague, and was third at World Cup on the rapids of the Sava in front of his home crowd. At the same time, he also received the title of the best wildwater competitor.

The best female canoe sprint competitor of the year 2023 became Mia Medved, who competed excellently at the World Championships in Duisburg. In the mixed K2 with Rok Šmit they were fourth in the 500-metre distance, and in the 1000 meters, which is not her main discipline, she took an excellent tenth place.

The title of the male canoe sprinter of the year went to Anže Urankar, who surprised the sprint community at the European Games in Krakow. In the 200-meter distance, he narrowly missed out on a medal and was fifth, and together with Špela Ponomarenko Janić, they were the best in the final B of the 200-meter mixed K2. Kayaker from Ljubljana had even more success in Wildwater Canoeing, where he became the World and European champion in the wildwater sprint canoeing, at both championships he also celebrated team gold with Nejc Žnidarčič and Simon Oven (they also won gold in the classics), and also recorded a victory in a World Cup race.

The best female junior of the year is Naja Pinterič, who won medals in both slalom and whitewater caneoing, as well as in SUP. As expected, the title of the best male junior of the year was won by 16-year-old Žiga Lin Hočevar. The young slalom paddler followed in the footsteps of his father Simon and sister Eva Alina and won the title of junior world champion. He succeeded in this at the championship in Krakow, where he conquered all the competition in a canoe. In Krakow, he also won a bronze medal in kayak. He also won three bronze medals at the Junior and U23 European Championships.

The best coach of the year award went to Maks Frančeškin, the head coach of the Slovenian national team in wildwater canoeing.

Source and photos: https://kajak-zveza.si/novice/ana-steblaj-in-benjamin-savsek-sportnika-leta-kajakaske-zveze-slovenije/