European Canoe Association

Prague is ready to host the 2018 ECA Canoe Slalom European Championships

25.5.2018

In exactly one week the 2018 ECA Canoe Slalom European Championships will start in Prague, capital city of Czech Republic. Opening ceremony, however, will be held on Wednesday (30^th May), but the first competitions will start on Friday (1^st June) when heats in all individual categories will be organised.

Well known canoe slalom course in Prague’s Troja has hosted many canoeing events through the years, including World Cups and World Championships, so the organising team is very experienced and is expected to deliver a memorable event. This will be the second edition of ECA Senior Canoe Slalom European Championships that will be organised in Czech Republic since the first ever Canoe Slalom European Championships was held in 1996 in Augsburg, Germany. In 1998 the second Senior Canoe Slalom European Championships was held in Roudnice, a town located about 50 kilometres north of Prague.

Canoeing fans that always fill the stands by the Vltava River and loudly support paddlers who are fighting for the medals will see over 200 athletes from 27 European countries. Among them will be Olympic, World and European Champions. The defending champions from last year’s European Championships in Ljubljana – Tacen, Slovenia, will be in Prague as well, the only two defending champions who will miss the competition are winners of the men’s C2 event Pierre Picco and Hugo Biso (FRA), who waved goodbye to competitive sports after last year’s World Championships in Pau.

The defending champion in women’s kayak event is Austrian Corinna Kuhnle, in women’s C1 Kimberley Woods from Great Britain, in men’s K1 Mateusz Polaczyk from Poland and in men’s C1 Alexander Slafkovsky from Slovakia.

The first competitions will start next Friday, with scheduled heats in C2M, C1W and K1M categories in the morning part of the programme, followed by heats in women’s K1 and men’s C1 in the afternoon. On Saturday we will see semifinal and final runs in C2M, C1W and K1M individual events as well as team races in previously mentioned categories. On Sunday the championships will conclude with semifinals and finals in K1W and C1M individual events and team races in these two categories.

The promotion of canoeing in the city centre of Prague will begin on Monday (28^th May) with traditional event called ‘Paddleride’ and continue on Tuesday (29^th May) with interesting event ‘Riverside cross’ which connects canoeing and biathlon.

USEFUL LINKS

Official event website: http://www.slalomtroja.cz/en/

Official event Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/CanoeSlalomPrague/

Official event Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/slalomtroja/

ECA website: https://canoe-europe.org/

ECA Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/CanoeEurope/

ECA Twitter: https://twitter.com/CanoeEurope

ECA Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/canoe.europe/

PROVISIONAL PROGRAMME OF THE 2018 ECA CANOE SLALOM EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS

Monday | 28 May

16:00 Paddleride 2018

Tuesday | 29 May