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The 2026 ICF Junior and U23 Canoe Slalom World Championships in Krakow confirmed the strength and depth of European canoe slalom, with European nations dominating across slalom, team events, kayak cross individual time trials and kayak cross finals.

Europe dominates the medal table in Krakow

Across the 24 medal events, Europe won 68 of the 72 medals available and claimed every single world title at the 2026 ICF Junior and U23 Canoe Slalom World Championships in Krakow.

It was a complete sweep in gold medals, with all 24 world titles going to European nations, while only four podium places went outside Europe.

Czechia leads the way

Czechia was the standout nation of the Championships, finishing clearly on top of the overall medal table with 24 medals, including 11 gold, 7 silver and 6 bronze.

The Czech team was especially dominant in the junior women’s events, where Czech athletes swept the podium in Women’s Kayak Junior and also claimed all three medals in the Women’s Kayak Cross Junior final.

France, Germany, Spain and Italy also among the main European forces

France also delivered a strong Championships, finishing second in the medal table with 10 medals. The French team won four gold medals, including important victories in Men’s Canoe U23, Men’s Canoe Teams U23, Men’s Kayak Teams U23 and Men’s Kayak Cross U23.

France also showed its strength in the team events, where it was one of the most consistent nations across both junior and under-23 categories.

Germany was another major European performer, with three gold medals. Lucie Krech won the Women’s Canoe U23 title, Paulina Pirro took gold in Women’s Kayak U23, and Enrico Dietz won the Men’s Kayak Cross U23 Individual Time Trial.

Germany also added two silver medals in the women’s team events, confirming its strength across different formats.

Spain finished with seven medals, including gold in the Women’s Kayak Teams U23 event. Spanish athletes were particularly consistent in the under-23 categories, with medals in kayak slalom, canoe team events and kayak cross.

Italy also ended the Championships with seven medals, showing strong depth across canoe and kayak events, although without a gold medal.

Czechia shines in the junior women’s events

The junior events were strongly dominated by Czechia. Barbora Ondrackova, Valentyna Kocírova and Lucie Vaculova were among the key names of the Championships, contributing to multiple Czech podiums in slalom and kayak cross.

Czechia won the Women’s Canoe Junior, Women’s Kayak Junior, Women’s Canoe Teams Junior, Women’s Kayak Teams Junior and Women’s Kayak Cross Junior events, underlining its exceptional strength at junior level.

Variety of European winners in the men’s junior events

In the men’s junior events, Europe also showed impressive variety. Slovakia won gold in Men’s Canoe Junior through Dominik Egyhazy, while Austria took the Men’s Kayak Junior title with Max Steinbrenner.

Slovenia won Men’s Kayak Teams Junior, and Czechia added another world title in Men’s Canoe Teams Junior.

Kayak Cross almost entirely belongs to Europe

Kayak Cross also belonged almost entirely to Europe. European athletes won 23 of the 24 medals across the Kayak Cross Individual Time Trials and Kayak Cross Finals.

The only non-European medal in these events came from the United States, with Carden Oetting taking silver in the Women’s Kayak Cross Junior Individual Time Trial.

In the head-to-head Kayak Cross Finals, Europe won every medal.

Strong European statement in U23 Kayak Cross

The under-23 kayak cross finals were another strong statement from Europe. Tereza Kneblova of Czechia won the women’s title ahead of Switzerland’s Fia Buetikofer and Italy’s Lucia Pistoni.

In the men’s event, France’s Ianis Triomphe won the title ahead of Spain’s Miquel Farran and Great Britain’s Thomas Mayer.

Europe confirms its strength across all age groups

Overall, the Championships in Krakow showed a remarkable European presence across all disciplines and age groups.

Europe won 34 of the 36 medals in junior events and 34 of the 36 medals in under-23 events, while the men’s events produced a complete European sweep with 36 medals from 36 possible.

With Czechia leading the way, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Poland, Slovakia, Austria, Great Britain and Slovenia also played major roles in a Championships that once again highlighted Europe as the driving force in canoe slalom and kayak cross at junior and under-23 level.

Overall Medal Table

Rank	Country	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Czechia	11	7	6	24
2	France	4	3	3	10
3	Germany	3	2	0	5
4	Spain	1	4	2	7
5	Austria	1	1	0	2
6	Poland	1	0	3	4
7	Slovakia	1	0	2	3
8	Great Britain	1	0	1	2
9	Slovenia	1	0	0	1
10	Italy	0	3	4	7
11	China	0	1	1	2
12	United States	0	1	1	2
13	Switzerland	0	1	0	1
14	Ukraine	0	1	0	1
15	Greece	0	0	1	1

European Medallists by Event

The following list includes only European medal winners. Medals won by non-European nations are not included in this section.

Category	Event	Medal	European medallist	Country
Slalom Individual	Women’s Canoe U23	Gold	Lucie Krech	Germany
Slalom Individual	Women’s Canoe U23	Silver	Elena Micozzi	Italy
Slalom Individual	Women’s Canoe Junior	Gold	Barbora Ondrackova	Czechia
Slalom Individual	Women’s Canoe Junior	Silver	Valentyna Kocírova	Czechia
Slalom Individual	Women’s Canoe Junior	Bronze	Margot Lapeze	France
Slalom Individual	Men’s Canoe U23	Gold	Mewen Debliquy	France
Slalom Individual	Men’s Canoe U23	Silver	Lukas Kratochvil	Czechia
Slalom Individual	Men’s Canoe U23	Bronze	Elio Maiutto	Italy
Slalom Individual	Men’s Canoe Junior	Gold	Dominik Egyhazy	Slovakia
Slalom Individual	Men’s Canoe Junior	Silver	Dominik Rezabek	Czechia
Slalom Individual	Men’s Canoe Junior	Bronze	Ioannis Zachos	Greece
Slalom Individual	Women’s Kayak U23	Gold	Paulina Pirro	Germany
Slalom Individual	Women’s Kayak U23	Silver	Leire Goni	Spain
Slalom Individual	Women’s Kayak U23	Bronze	Bara Galuskova	Czechia
Slalom Individual	Women’s Kayak Junior	Gold	Barbora Ondrackova	Czechia
Slalom Individual	Women’s Kayak Junior	Silver	Valentyna Kocírova	Czechia
Slalom Individual	Women’s Kayak Junior	Bronze	Lucie Vaculova	Czechia
Slalom Individual	Men’s Kayak U23	Gold	Sam Leaver	Great Britain
Slalom Individual	Men’s Kayak U23	Silver	Faust Clotet Juanmarti	Spain
Slalom Individual	Men’s Kayak U23	Bronze	Michele Pistoni	Italy
Slalom Individual	Men’s Kayak Junior	Gold	Max Steinbrenner	Austria
Slalom Individual	Men’s Kayak Junior	Silver	Leo Roye	France
Slalom Individual	Men’s Kayak Junior	Bronze	Marek Kulczycki	Poland
Slalom Teams	Women’s Canoe Teams Junior	Gold	Czechia	Czechia
Slalom Teams	Women’s Canoe Teams Junior	Silver	France	France
Slalom Teams	Women’s Kayak Teams Junior	Gold	Czechia	Czechia
Slalom Teams	Women’s Kayak Teams Junior	Silver	Germany	Germany
Slalom Teams	Women’s Kayak Teams Junior	Bronze	Slovakia	Slovakia
Slalom Teams	Women’s Canoe Teams U23	Gold	Czechia	Czechia
Slalom Teams	Women’s Canoe Teams U23	Bronze	Italy	Italy
Slalom Teams	Women’s Kayak Teams U23	Gold	Spain	Spain
Slalom Teams	Women’s Kayak Teams U23	Silver	Germany	Germany
Slalom Teams	Women’s Kayak Teams U23	Bronze	France	France
Slalom Teams	Men’s Canoe Teams Junior	Gold	Czechia	Czechia
Slalom Teams	Men’s Canoe Teams Junior	Silver	Italy	Italy
Slalom Teams	Men’s Canoe Teams Junior	Bronze	France	France
Slalom Teams	Men’s Kayak Teams Junior	Gold	Slovenia	Slovenia
Slalom Teams	Men’s Kayak Teams Junior	Silver	France	France
Slalom Teams	Men’s Kayak Teams Junior	Bronze	Slovakia	Slovakia
Slalom Teams	Men’s Canoe Teams U23	Gold	France	France
Slalom Teams	Men’s Canoe Teams U23	Silver	Czechia	Czechia
Slalom Teams	Men’s Canoe Teams U23	Bronze	Spain	Spain
Slalom Teams	Men’s Kayak Teams U23	Gold	France	France
Slalom Teams	Men’s Kayak Teams U23	Silver	Italy	Italy
Slalom Teams	Men’s Kayak Teams U23	Bronze	Czechia	Czechia
Kayak Cross Individual Time Trial	Women’s Kayak Cross Junior	Gold	Lucie Vaculova	Czechia
Kayak Cross Individual Time Trial	Women’s Kayak Cross Junior	Bronze	Valentyna Kocírova	Czechia
Kayak Cross Individual Time Trial	Men’s Kayak Cross Junior	Gold	Marek Kulczycki	Poland
Kayak Cross Individual Time Trial	Men’s Kayak Cross Junior	Silver	Arkhyp Krachko	Ukraine
Kayak Cross Individual Time Trial	Men’s Kayak Cross Junior	Bronze	Tobias Novak	Czechia
Kayak Cross Individual Time Trial	Women’s Kayak Cross U23	Gold	Tereza Kneblova	Czechia
Kayak Cross Individual Time Trial	Women’s Kayak Cross U23	Silver	Leire Goni	Spain
Kayak Cross Individual Time Trial	Women’s Kayak Cross U23	Bronze	Dominika Brzeska	Poland
Kayak Cross Individual Time Trial	Men’s Kayak Cross U23	Gold	Enrico Dietz	Germany
Kayak Cross Individual Time Trial	Men’s Kayak Cross U23	Silver	Matyas Novak	Czechia
Kayak Cross Individual Time Trial	Men’s Kayak Cross U23	Bronze	Manel Contreras	Spain
Kayak Cross Final	Women’s Kayak Cross Junior	Gold	Marketa Stepankova	Czechia
Kayak Cross Final	Women’s Kayak Cross Junior	Silver	Valentyna Kocírova	Czechia
Kayak Cross Final	Women’s Kayak Cross Junior	Bronze	Lucie Vaculova	Czechia
Kayak Cross Final	Men’s Kayak Cross Junior	Gold	Marek Petrik	Czechia
Kayak Cross Final	Men’s Kayak Cross Junior	Silver	Max Steinbrenner	Austria
Kayak Cross Final	Men’s Kayak Cross Junior	Bronze	Marek Kulczycki	Poland
Kayak Cross Final	Women’s Kayak Cross U23	Gold	Tereza Kneblova	Czechia
Kayak Cross Final	Women’s Kayak Cross U23	Silver	Fia Buetikofer	Switzerland
Kayak Cross Final	Women’s Kayak Cross U23	Bronze	Lucia Pistoni	Italy
Kayak Cross Final	Men’s Kayak Cross U23	Gold	Ianis Triomphe	France
Kayak Cross Final	Men’s Kayak Cross U23	Silver	Miquel Farran	Spain
Kayak Cross Final	Men’s Kayak Cross U23	Bronze	Thomas Mayer	Great Britain