Plovdiv, Bulgaria, not only hosts the 2017 ECA Canoe Sprint European Championships but the 2017 ECA Paracanoeing European Championships as well. The first competition day already brought seven finals and success of British team. Jeanette Chippington, Emma Wiggs and Jonathan Young won gold medals and Charlotte Henshaw finished second.
The 2016 Paralympic champions Jeanette Chippington and Emma Wiggs finished the first major competition after the Rio de Janeiro Paralympic games in the same position as they did in Brazil. Jeanette Chippington produced the fastest time in KL1 200 metres final to take gold medal. Alexandra Dupik from Russia was second and Edina Mueller from Germany, defending champion from last year’s European Championships in Moscow, picked up bronze medal.
Emma Wiggs, multiple World Championships medallist and Paralympic champion, too won a gold medal. She was the fastest in women’s KL2 final. Almost three seconds behind her crossed the finish line her compatriot Charlotte Henshaw, while Nadezda Andreeva from Russia, last year’s champion, finished third.
“It has been a really long winter, full of hard work in the gym, so we didn’t really know what we will be able to race like, because we’ve been working so hard on getting stronger. I am really excited that we have delivered a good run. It makes the next four years very exciting,” said Emma Wiggs after her gold medal performance.
In women’s KL3 200 metres event Cindy Moreau from France won the European Champion title. Bronze medallist of the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games stopped the clock at 53.183, 0.100 seconds ahead of Mihaela Lulea from Romania and 1.756 seconds ahead of Helene Ripa from Sweden.
Paracanoe Va finals were also held today. Natalia Lahutenko (UKR), Mariia Nikiforova and Nadezda Andreeva (both RUS) picked up medals in women’s VL2 200 metres event, Robert Suba (HUN), Pavel Gromov (RUS) and Artur Chuprov (RUS) were the best in men’s VL1 200 metres final. Markus Swoboda (AUT), who will be one of the main favourites in men’s parakayak event, already won European Champion title in Plovdiv. He was the best in men’s VL2 event, where he beat Ivo Kilian (GER) and Giuseppe di Lelio (ITA). In the final paracanoeing event of the day Jonathan Young (GBR) concluded a successful day of British team with gold medal in men’s VL3 final. Victor Potanin and Aleksei Egorov picked up silver and bronze for Russia.
