The penultimate day of the 2021 ECA Junior and U23 Canoe Slalom European Championships in Solkan, Slovenia, brought exciting racing in men's and women's kayak events. Klaudia Zwolinska, Jakub Krejči, Zuzana Pankova, Martin Rudorfer, Tereza Kneblova and Tereza Fišerova were the ones who reached the top podium positions.
Polish kayaker Klaudia Zwolinska competed at Tokyo Olympics less than a month ago and today she was crowned the U23 European Champion on the emerald Soča River in Slovenia. Her final run was superb. Despite the two seconds penalty she still crossed the finish line 3.90 seconds faster than her closest rival Sona Stanovska from Slovakia. Tereza Fišerova from Czech Republic was third in women's U23 event.
Zwolinska competed for the last time in the U23 category, so she was super happy with the success, "I am very happy, because I will no longer compete in the U23 and I am going to be a senior. This competition was very special for me. Here in Solkan, I concluded my junior category with a win, and now I did it again. In Solkan is so hard to compete. I don't like to paddle a lot, so I am tired now, but it was really fun."
In women's junior kayak final it was a double win for Slovakia. Zuzana Pankova was almost three seconds faster than her teammate Ivana Chlebova, while Emma Vuitton from France won bronze medal.
Men's kayak final in both age groups brought success to the Czech national team. Jakub Krejči celebrated European Champion title in a tight U23 final. He was only 0.13 second faster than French kayaker Anatole Delassus, while Christopher Bowers from Great Britain finished third, 0.14 seconds behind.
The newly crowned junior European Champion in men's kayak is Martin Rudorfer. Egor Smirnov from Russia was second and local favourite Jan Ločnikar from Slovenia was third.
For the first time in history of the Junior and U23 European Championships we also followed extreme slalom races. Czech paddlers dominated the evening finals, winning in all four events.
Martin Rudorfer added another gold medal of the day to his collection after winning in men's junior XCSL event. French paddler Edouard Chenal was second and Michal Ciaglo from Poland third. Like Rudorfer also Jakub Krejči repeated his success from slalom in extreme slalom final. He crossed the finish line ahead of Dmitri Marx from Switzerland and Manuel Ochoa from Spain.
In women's U23 extreme slalom final Tereza Fišerova won ahead of Nikita Setchell from Great Britain and Alsu Minazova from Russia. In junior event Tereza Kneblova found the fastest line to win the European Champion title. Dominika Danek from Poland was second and Zuzana Pankova from Slovakia third.
On Sunday the 2021 ECA Junior and U23 Canoe Slalom European Championships will conclude with junior/U23 women's and men's C1 semifinals and finals.
21.8.2021
