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17.10.2026
European athletes enjoyed another outstanding day at the 2026 Paddle Worldwide Stand Up Paddling World Championships in Sabaudia, Italy, claiming six gold medals and 17 of the 24 medals awarded as the Technical Race competition concluded on Saturday, 17 October.
Spain emerged as the most successful European nation of the day, collecting six medals, including three world titles. Aaron Sánchez claimed the Open Men's crown, while Bianca Toncelli triumphed in Junior Women and Laura Quetglas secured Masters 40+ Women's gold.
Germany's Manuel Lauble was another standout performer, becoming a double world champion in just 24 hours after adding the Technical Race title to the Sprint gold he shared on Friday.
France and Czechia also celebrated world titles, while Portugal, Italy, Great Britain and the Netherlands were among the European nations reaching the podium.
Following Friday's highly successful Sprint competition, the Technical Race results further demonstrated Europe's strength across all age groups, with several recently crowned European champions from Agios Nikolaos once again challenging for medals on the world stage.
Aaron Sánchez leads European success in Open Men's Technical Race
Spain's Aaron Sánchez produced an impressive performance to claim the Open Men's Technical Race world title, completing the 1,000-metre course in 4:37.39.
France's Noic Garioud finished second in 4:43.52, 6.12 seconds behind the winner, while American Connor Baxter secured bronze in 4:45.58. Antonio Sanchez was original second at the finish line but was disqualified for missing the first turning bouy.
The result represented an impressive turnaround for Sánchez, who had finished eighth in Friday's Open Men's Sprint final before returning to claim the world title in Technical Race.
Garioud also improved on his Sprint performance, moving from fourth place on Friday to the second step of the world championship podium.
Denmark's Christian Andersen, who arrived in Sabaudia as the reigning European Technical Race champion following his victory in Agios Nikolaos, narrowly missed another international medal.
Andersen finished fourth in 4:45.88, just 0.30 seconds behind Baxter.
Spain's Manuel Hoyuela, who collected Open Men's Sprint bronze on Friday and had also reached the European Technical Race podium in Greece, finished fifth in 4:51.92.
The result highlighted the quality of the European field, with Sánchez and Garioud securing gold and silver against some of the world's leading competitors.
Rivera takes Open Women's title as Spain claims two medals
Puerto Rico's Mariecarmen Rivera emerged victorious in the Open Women's Technical Race final, winning in 5:04.28.
Rivera, who had finished second behind Italy's Cecilia Pampinella in Friday's Sprint final, reversed her fortunes by taking the world title in Saturday's Technical Race.
Spain completed the remaining podium positions, with Duna Rodríguez claiming silver in 5:06.96 and Alba Frey securing bronze in 5:10.77.
Rodríguez finished 2.68 seconds behind the world champion, while Frey crossed the line 6.49 seconds behind the winner.
For Italy's Cecilia Pampinella, the Technical Race final brought another highly competitive performance but no additional medal.
The reigning European champion, who swept all three Open Women's titles at the Paddle Europe Championships in Agios Nikolaos and added the Sprint world title on Friday, finished fourth in 5:11.53.
Only 0.760 seconds separated Pampinella from the bronze medal.
Hungary's Csillag Kocsis, who had recorded the fastest Open Women's Technical Race time during Thursday's qualification programme, finished fifth in 5:12.30.
Although Pampinella narrowly missed the podium, the final demonstrated the depth of European competition, with Spanish athletes taking two medals and the European champion remaining among the world's leading performers.
Bianca Toncelli wins Junior Women's world title for Spain
Spain's Bianca Toncelli delivered another major European success in the Junior Women's Technical Race, claiming the world title with a time of 5:20.95.
Italy's Claudia Postiglione secured silver in 5:23.00, finishing 2.04 seconds behind the Spanish winner, while Japan's Otono Hirata completed the podium in 5:25.12.
Postiglione's result added another important international medal to her 2026 season, following her bronze in the Open Women's Technical Race at the Paddle Europe Championships in Agios Nikolaos.
Italy placed four athletes in the eight-person world championship final, underlining the country's impressive strength in the Junior Women's category.
Among them was Sveva Sabato, the reigning European Junior Technical Race and Long Distance champion, who finished fifth in 5:35.23.
Compatriot Lisa Venturelli, silver medallist in the European Junior Technical Race, followed in sixth place with 5:35.50.
The Junior Women's final therefore brought another opportunity to compare Europe's leading young paddlers following their recent continental championship performances.
While Sabato had dominated the European Technical Race in Greece, Sabaudia produced a different winner, with Toncelli confirming Spain's growing strength in the discipline.
Daskiran and Viveiros repeat Sprint podium performances in Junior Men
The Junior Men's Technical Race produced another compelling contest, with Japan's Tatsuma Nishikawa taking the world title in 4:36.85.
Germany's Marlon Daskiran claimed silver in 4:44.50, while Portugal's Lourenço Viveiros completed the podium with bronze in 4:50.22.
Remarkably, both European athletes repeated the medals they had won just 24 hours earlier in the Sprint competition.
Daskiran secured his second world championship silver medal in two days, while Viveiros collected a second consecutive bronze.
For the Portuguese athlete, the result added to an outstanding season that included European Junior titles in both Sprint and Technical Race at Agios Nikolaos.
Romania's Matei Barbu, who won the Junior Men's Sprint world title on Friday after previously becoming European Open Men's Sprint champion, finished fourth in the Technical Race final with 4:52.28.
Germany's Benyam Bossack, the reigning European Junior Long Distance champion, placed fifth in 4:53.78, followed by Italy's Gianluca Corriero in sixth.
The results further highlighted the strength of European Junior paddlers, with Germany, Portugal, Romania, Great Britain and Italy represented among the finalists.
Manuel Lauble completes exceptional double world title success
Germany's Manuel Lauble emerged as one of the most successful athletes of the championships after winning a second world title in consecutive days.
Having shared the Masters 40+ Men's Sprint gold medal with Argentina's Lucas Correa on Friday, following an extraordinary dead heat in 25.80 seconds, Lauble returned on Saturday to claim the Technical Race title outright.
The German athlete completed the course in 4:48.46, finishing 4.10 seconds ahead of Japan's Ryohei Yoshida.
Spain's Roberto Canedo claimed bronze in 5:01.92, completing another successful European podium presence.
For Lauble, the victory confirmed his versatility, demonstrating the speed required for Sprint and the endurance and technical skills necessary for the longer course.
Germany's Martin Teichmann, the reigning European Masters 40+ Sprint champion, finished fifth in 5:11.05.
Lauble's double world championship success was one of the standout individual achievements across the first four days of competition in Sabaudia.
Laura Quetglas gives Spain another Masters world title
Spain continued its impressive Technical Race campaign in the Masters 40+ Women's competition, where Laura Quetglas claimed the world title in 5:32.05.
The Netherlands' Petronella van Malsen, who had won the Sprint world championship title on Friday, finished second in 5:37.71.
Italy's Claudia Luchetta completed the podium with bronze in 5:46.59.
Van Malsen's silver medal added to her Sprint gold, making her another European athlete to secure two world championship medals in consecutive days.
For Luchetta, the result represented an improvement on Friday's Sprint final, where she had narrowly missed the podium in fourth place.
Her bronze also continued Italy's strong performances across the championships, adding to the success of Cecilia Pampinella and Claudia Postiglione in the Open and Junior categories.
Czechia and France celebrate Masters 50+ world titles
European athletes also secured both Masters 50+ Technical Race world titles.
In the Women's competition, Czechia's Katerina Trdlova claimed gold in 5:44.05, ahead of Great Britain's Ginnie Betts, who finished second in 5:49.60.
Canada's Edith Turcotte completed the podium with bronze in 5:54.35.
Betts had won the Masters 50+ Women's Sprint world title on Friday and therefore leaves the Technical Race competition with a second medal.
Greece's Penny Tsaoutou, winner of all three European Masters 50+ Women's titles in Agios Nikolaos, finished fourth in 6:02.00, having already secured Sprint bronze on Friday.
In Masters 50+ Men, France's Michael Fargier claimed the world title following one of the closest Technical Race finals of the afternoon.
Fargier completed the course in 5:01.01, finishing just 0.33 seconds ahead of Germany's Peter Weidert, who claimed silver in 5:01.35.
Canada's Tommy Buday secured bronze in 5:12.06.
For Weidert, the silver represented an improvement on Friday's Sprint result, when he finished fourth, while Fargier added another world title to Europe's growing medal tally.
Europe collects 17 medals as Spain leads the way
The Technical Race finals brought another highly successful day for European Stand Up Paddling.
European athletes won six of the eight world titles and collected 17 of the 24 medals awarded, including six gold, seven silver and four bronze.
Spain led the European medal count with six medals — three gold, one silver and two bronze — thanks to victories from Aaron Sánchez, Bianca Toncelli and Laura Quetglas, alongside podium performances from Duna Rodríguez, Alba Frey and Roberto Canedo.
Germany followed with three medals, including Manuel Lauble's gold and silver medals for Marlon Daskiran and Peter Weidert.
France collected two medals through Michael Fargier's gold and Noic Garioud's silver, while Italy reached the podium twice with Claudia Postiglione and Claudia Luchetta.
Czechia celebrated Katerina Trdlova's world title, while Great Britain, the Netherlands and Portugal added further medals.
Combined with Friday's Sprint results, Europe's performances in Sabaudia confirm the continent's competitive strength across both disciplines.
The close relationship between the European Championships in Agios Nikolaos and the World Championships has been particularly visible, with several continental champions and medallists translating their performances into further success against international opposition.
Long Distance to conclude the World Championships on Sunday
With the Sprint and Technical Race world titles now decided, the 2026 Paddle Worldwide Stand Up Paddling World Championships will conclude on Sunday, 18 October, with the Long Distance programme.
The final day will provide another opportunity for Europe's leading paddlers to challenge for world championship medals.
Among the athletes to watch will be Denmark's Christian Andersen, the reigning European Open Men's Long Distance champion, who will be looking to improve on his fourth-place Technical Race result.
Italy's Cecilia Pampinella will also enter the final discipline with high ambitions, following her European Long Distance victory in Agios Nikolaos and her Sprint world title earlier this week.
Germany's Benyam Bossack, the European Junior Men's Long Distance champion, and Italy's Sveva Sabato, winner of the Junior Women's European Long Distance title, will be among the leading European competitors in the younger categories.
The Masters competitions will provide further medal opportunities, including for several athletes who have already reached the podium during the opening days.
After four days of intense competition and an outstanding collection of European performances, Sunday's Long Distance races will bring the World Championships to a close, with Europe's paddlers looking to finish the event on another high note.


