Day four of the Summer European Youth Olympic Festival (EYOF) marked a historic milestone, as canoe slalom featured in the competition programme for the very first time. The winners of this debut edition were Marek Kulczycki from Poland, Barbora Ondrackova from Czechia, Leo Roye from France, and Patrycja Iwaniec from Poland.
The scenic Matka Canyon hosted the canoe slalom competition on a course that has previously welcomed both Senior and Junior/U23 European Championships in canoe slalom, as well as continental championships in wildwater canoeing.
More than 60 athletes competed on the Treska River in four events. The young kayakers were the first to tackle the course, with Poland's Marek Kulczycki handling the rapids most effectively. He completed a clean run with no penalty seconds and crossed the finish line 1.61 seconds ahead of Austria’s Max Steinbrenner. Third place in men’s kayak went to Johann Schmidt of Germany, who finished 2.26 seconds behind the winner.
In the women's kayak event, Czech athlete Barbora Ondrackova dominated with a clean and fast run, finishing a remarkable 13.52 seconds ahead of her closest competitor. The silver medal went to Slovakia's Zara Zahorska, despite her six penalty seconds. Spain’s Ainhoa Segura claimed the bronze.
Segura also reached the podium in the women’s canoe final, once again taking third place. The event was won by Poland’s Patrycja Iwaniec, who finished 1.18 seconds ahead of Florence Moinian from Switzerland. Segura trailed by 2.69 seconds to take her second bronze of the day.
In the men's canoe event, France's Leo Roye delivered a flawless run to win gold. He finished just under three seconds ahead of Italy's Dennis Fina, who came second despite a gate touch. Although Czech paddler Matej Kvapil posted the fastest raw time, six penalty seconds pushed him into third place, 5.5 seconds off the gold medal pace.
Livestreaming: https://eoctv.org/live/
Schedule and Results: https://skopje2025.sporteurope.org/schedule-and-results/
24.7.2025
