News

In the first final of the day – the women’s junior canoe final – thirteen athletes lined up at the start. This was due to a tie in the semi-final, where two athletes shared the twelfth-fastest time. In the decisive run, every competitor touched at least one gate, but it was Switzerland's Eyleen Vuilleumier who finished fastest despite two penalty seconds, stopping the clock at 115.01. Spain’s Ainara Goikoetxea, who had two touches, claimed silver just 0.34 seconds behind. The bronze went to France’s Margot Lapeze, who incurred four penalty seconds and finished 1.81 seconds behind the winner.

 

The junior men's canoe final was equally intense. The European junior champion title went to Slovak paddler Dominik Egyhazy, who completed the course cleanly, which secured his victory. Spain’s Oier Diaz, this year’s junior world champion in this event, took silver with one gate touch, trailing the winner by 1.41 seconds. Local athlete Ziga Lin Hocevar from Slovenia earned the bronze medal with two touches and a time 2.35 seconds behind the leader.

 

For the second consecutive day, Slovenia’s Eva Alina Hocevar, the older sister of Ziga Lin, took the win in the women’s U23 category. After winning the kayak event on Friday, she topped the canoe event on Saturday, securing her career fourth U23 European Champion title. Both she and silver medallist Elena Borghi from Italy completed clean runs, but Hocevar was 2.62 seconds faster. France’s Doriane Delassus finished third, just 0.04 seconds behind Borghi.

 

The men’s U23 canoe final was dominated entirely by French paddlers, who swept the podium. Elouan Debliquy emerged victorious, followed by Martin Cornu in second and Yohann Senechault in third. The top three were separated by just 1.15 seconds.

 

Sunday will mark the conclusion of the 2025 ECA Junior and U23 Canoe Slalom European Championships, with individual kayak cross and kayak cross events in both junior and U23 categories.