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Paracanoe athletes from Great Britain, Hungary, Georgia, and the Individual Neutral Athletes topped the podium on the first day of medal finals at the 2026 Paddle Europe Sprint, Paracanoe and Masters European Championships in Montemor-o-Velho. Charlotte Henshaw was in the spotlight with two victories.

British paracanoe star Charlotte Henshaw once again demonstrated why she is considered one of the greatest paracanoe athletes of all time. In the morning session, she won the VL3 200m event, before adding a second gold medal in the KL2 200m event later in the afternoon.

In the VL3 200m final, Henshaw defeated her Great Britain teammate Hope Gordon, who won the European title at last year's championships in Racice, where Henshaw finished second. This time, the two Britons swapped positions, while France's Elea Charvet claimed bronze.

"It was a good race but it always is between me and Hope. We kind of pass titles backwards and forwards between each other. I think that is the strength of this event, we kind of want to move forward together," said Henshaw after her first victory of the day.

Later in the afternoon, she once again crossed the finish line ahead of a teammate, this time Emma Wiggs, who made a successful return following injury. Hungary's Katalin Varga took third place in the KL2 200m final after winning silver in the same event at last year's European Championships.

The British national anthem was also played in honour of David Phillipson, who won the men's KL2 200m event. Italy's Christian Volpi finished second, repeating the same positions the two athletes achieved last year. Austria's Markus Swoboda secured the bronze medal.

Serhii Yemelianov, competing for Georgia, once again triumphed in the KL3 200m category. The reigning world champion successfully defended his European title, finishing 1.185 seconds ahead of Czech paddler Vojtech Prochazka. Spain's Juan Valle claimed bronze.

Hungary's Peter Kiss extended his winning streak by once again taking gold in the KL1 200m event. He secured another career achievement by finishing 0.730 seconds ahead of teammate Robert Suba, while France's Remy Boulle earned the bronze medal.

In the VL1 200m event, the top positions went to Individual Neutral Athletes Ilya Taupianets (AIN-B) and Artur Chuprov (AIN-A), while last year's winner Moritz Berthold of Germany finished third.

Aleksandra Dupik (AIN-A) won the women's KL1 200m race ahead of Italy's Viktoryia Shablova, although this was not an official European Championships medal event.

Five more paracanoe medal events will take place on Sunday, the final day of the championships.

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RESULTS: https://timetable.europecanoeevents.com/index.php?gmt=1&gmt2=-60