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It had been an intense four days of racing on the Soča River in Slovenia. Venue bordering to Italy brought much success to the Czech national team. They have dominated majority of the events from day one on. The conclusion of the championships was not any different.

 

23-year-old Tereza Fišerova had a championships to remember. On Saturday, she won the first Extreme Slalom European Champion title in the U23 age group in history of the sport, she also won a medal in U23 women's kayak final, and on Sunday she became the U23 European Champion in women's canoe. At the end Fišerova finished the race 2.78 seconds ahead of Bethan Forrow from Great Britain, while Monica Doria Vilarrubla from Andora won bronze medal.

 

Fišerova, who participated at the Tokyo Olympic Games and finished sixth there, was very happy with the outcome in Slovenia. "It's amazing feeling. This race was so hard for me because I did 12 runs, and today I am so tired, but I have gold medal in my C1 category. I am very happy. The run was really good, I did everything I wanted, and this is the most important thing. After the Olympic Games I had a seven days rest with sore throat, and it was hard for me to start again."

 

The men's canoe U23 final ended with a double Czech win. Vaclav Chaloupka was the one who reached the top podium position, finishing the race 1.59 seconds ahead of his teammate Vojtech Heger. Jules Bernardet from France was third.

 

Another athlete who amazed with her performances was 16-year-old Zuzana Pankova from Slovakia. She was unbeatable in both junior kayak and canoe finals and also won medal in extreme slalom. In Sunday's canoe final she produced a superb run and her closest rival finished more than four seconds behind. It was Italian Elena Micozzi who took the silver medal, while Russian representative Marina Novysh won bronze medal.

 

In the last event of the championships France celebrated two medals. Gold medal went to Mewen Debliquy and bronze to Tanguy Adisson. Czech canoeist Adam Kral was between them to claim the silver medal.

 

Next year the Junior and U23 Canoe Slalom European Championships will be organised in Czech Republic, more precisely in Česke Budejovice.

 

There is no rest for the organisers in Solkan. On Tuesday, the 2021 ECA Junior and U23 Wildwater Canoeing European Championships starts at the same venue.