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The 22-year-old British paddler Ottilie Robinson-Shaw was the main favourite for gold medals in women's senior kayak and canoe finals of the ECA Canoe Freestyle European Championships in Graz. At the end, she indeed delivered the best performances of the week and won two gold medals. In kayak, her tricks brought her 1566.67 points and a confident win. Second placed Zofia Tula from Poland had 958.33 points, while Merle Hauser from Germany won bronze medal with 756.67 points. Aoife Hanrahan (IRL) was fourth with 721.67 points, and Poland's Agata Sobieraj Jakubiec fifth (618.33 points).

 

Robinson - Shaw was the best also in women's C1 final, where she won gold medal with 1283.33 points. Polish athlete Zofia Tula was behind her with 566.67 points, while bronze medal went to Germany with Anica Schacher (406.67 points). British competitor Rebekah Green was fourth (386.67) and Germany's Lucia Hacker fifth (280.00).

 

"I feel very happy. Competition is hard. To be able to put down in K1 and C1 is a dream come true. You get stressed and sometimes you just need to keep going along with the competition and see how it goes. It ended well. I worked really hard at this event to make a really solid plan, so I knew exactly what tricks to do. I think it paid off," said Otillie Robinson - Shaw, who came back after serious injury she suffered last year when she dislocated her shoulder at the World Championships.

 

Tomasz Czaplicki from Poland was crowned senior European Champion in men's K1 event. He was the best in two out of the three runs the competitors had. He received the highest score in the second run where he received 1943.33 points. Harry Price from Great Britain was second with 1773.33 points. He received the identical score in his first and third attempt in the final. Belgium's Tom Dierick won bronze medal thanks to his first run (1653.33 points). Joaquim Fontane I Maso from Spain was fourth (1586.67), and Tom Dolle from France fifth (1490.00 points).

 

Tom Dolle also stood at the winner's podium. He was the best in men's canoe final, where he received 1310.00 points. The winning run was his first run of the day. His compatriot Jean-Yves Moustrou was second with 1041.67 points, and bronze medal was won by German Sebastian Kurt Rudolf Nelle (966.67 points). Eoghan Kelly (IRL) was fourth with 788.33 points, and Matthew Stephenson (GBR) finished fifth (636.67 points).

 

German competitor Tim Rees is the new Junior Canoe Freestyle European Champion. He was dominant in all three runs of the day, but the best one was his second run, where he received 1590.00 points. Austrian favourite Jonas Kim Hermann won silver medal with 1380.00 points, and Spain's Nil Garcia Parra was third with 936.67 points. Remi Teillerie from France was fourth (833.33 points), and James Ward from Great Britain was fifth (750.00 points).

 

Ireland's Leah Hough was the winner of women's junior kayak final in Graz. She received 890.00 points for the gold medal and European Champion title. She saved the best for the last as her previous two runs were scored with 350.00 and 360.00 runs. Silver medal went to Aisa Lopez - Arenas from Spain, also thanks to her final run with 470.00 points. Maja Kawcynska from Poland won bronze medal (468.33 points). Jule Sax (GER) was fourth (340.00) and Siren Saetre from Norway finished fifth (246.67).