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The Olympic waters of Vaires-sur-Marne are ready to welcome the world’s leading canoe slalom paddlers as the fourth Paddle Worldwide Canoe Slalom World Cup of 2026 takes place in France from 3 to 5 September.

According to the provisional start lists, 236 athletes from 46 countries are set to compete across K1, C1, Kayak Cross Individual and Kayak Cross, with Europe providing by far the largest share of the field.

A total of 170 athletes – just over 72 per cent of all competitors – are European, with AIN athletes included in the European figures. Across the six start lists currently available, there are 369 entries, 259 of them European, representing just over 70 per cent of all starts.

France, Germany and Czechia lead the European presence with 14 athletes each, followed by Great Britain and Spain with 12, Slovenia and Slovakia with 11 and Poland with ten.

The numbers underline the strength of European canoe slalom, but recent results make the picture even clearer. Just over a month ago at the 2026 World Championships in Oklahoma City, European paddlers collected 20 of the 24 medals available across the eight individual events, winning six of the eight world titles.

All six European individual world champions from Oklahoma City are entered in Vaires-sur-Marne.

Olympic waters welcome the world again

Vaires-sur-Marne is one of the sport's most recognisable venues after hosting the canoe slalom and kayak cross competitions at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. It also staged the 2023 Olympic Test Event World Cup and now welcomes the international circuit back to the French capital region.

The competition course is 300 metres long, 14 metres wide and features a 4.5-metre drop, with a water flow of 13 cubic metres per second. The wider venue was built around an 80-hectare lake and can accommodate up to 6,000 spectators along the competition course.

For Europe's leading paddlers, it will be another opportunity to perform on a venue where many of them experienced one of the biggest competitions of their careers only two years ago.

Travé leads a world-class Men's C1 field

One of the strongest races of the week should come in Men's C1, where the complete 2026 World Championship podium returns to competition.

Spain's Miquel Travé arrives as world champion after producing a clean 88.28-second run in the Oklahoma City final. Great Britain's Adam Burgess took silver, 1.49 seconds behind, while Czechia's Lukas Kratochvil completed an entirely European podium.

But the world champion will face no shortage of opposition. Olympic champion Nicolas Gestin (FRA) enters Vaires-sur-Marne as the current world number one, ahead of Travé, while Yohann Senechault (FRA), Luka Bozic (SLO), Ziga Lin Hocevar (SLO), Burgess, Ryan Westley (GBR), Raffaello Ivaldi (ITA), Matej Benus (SVK) and Benjamin Savsek (SLO) are all part of an exceptionally deep European field.

For Gestin in particular, returning to Vaires will carry special significance after his Olympic triumph on the same course at Paris 2024.

World champion Krejci faces another major European battle

Europe was equally dominant in Men's K1 at the World Championships, occupying all three steps of the podium.

Jakub Krejci (CZE) claimed the world title in 83.65, just 0.69 seconds ahead of Poland's Michal Pasiut, with Italy's Giovanni De Gennaro taking bronze. All three will race again this week.

The 78-athlete Men's K1 start list is the largest of the traditional slalom events and includes an extraordinary concentration of European talent.

France's Titouan Castryck and Anatole Delassus occupy the top two positions in the current world ranking, followed by Krejci and De Gennaro, while former Olympic and world champion Jiri Prskavec (CZE) is also among the leading starters.

Joseph Clarke (GBR), Pau Echaniz (ESP), Peter Kauzer (SLO), Felix Oschmautz (AUT), Vit Prindis (CZE), Xabier Ferrazzi (ITA) and Miquel Travé (ESP) add further depth to a race where predicting even the finalists will be difficult.

Kneblova brings the rainbow jersey to Women's C1

Another complete European World Championship podium will reunite in Women's C1.

Czechia's Tereza Kneblova produced one of the major performances of Oklahoma City to become world champion, finishing 2.52 seconds ahead of Monica Doria (AND). Poland's Klaudia Zwolinska claimed bronze, giving Europe a clean sweep of the medals.

All three are entered in France.

The European challenge does not stop there. Kimberley Woods (GBR), Eva Alina Hocevar (SLO), Martina Satkova (CZE), Zuzana Pankova (SVK), Andrea Herzog (GER), Miren Lazkano (ESP) and French duo Angele Hug and Marjorie Delassus are among the athletes capable of challenging for the podium.

With 37 of the 49 starters European, Women's C1 has the highest European share of any of the six published start lists.

Europe looks to challenge Fox in Women's K1

Women's K1 provided one of the few Oklahoma City titles to escape Europe.

Australia's Jessica Fox became world champion ahead of USA's Evy Leibfarth, but Europe again filled much of the final. Kimberley Woods (GBR) took bronze, while Alena Marx (SUI) finished fourth, Ricarda Funk (GER) fifth and Zuzana Pankova (SVK) sixth.

Fox and Leibfarth will both be in Vaires, setting up another direct test for the European contingent.

Current world number one Ricarda Funk leads that challenge, together with Camille Prigent (FRA), Klaudia Zwolinska (POL), Eva Alina Hocevar (SLO), Maialen Chourraut (ESP), Emma Vuitton (FRA), Pankova and Woods.

For several of them, the return to the Olympic venue will also revive memories of Paris 2024 and add another dimension to an already highly competitive field.

Clarke and Fox defend world titles in Kayak Cross Individual

The newer Kayak Cross Individual discipline adds two more world champions to the Vaires-sur-Marne field.

In Oklahoma City, Joseph Clarke (GBR) led a complete European Men's podium ahead of Jakub Krejci (CZE) and David Llorente (ESP). Clarke's 46.54-second run was only 0.16 ahead of Krejci, illustrating just how small the margins can be in the individual format.

The women's event went to Jessica Fox, with Katerina Bekova (CZE) second and Lois Leaver (GBR) third.

The Vaires start lists again contain most of the strongest European specialists, creating the possibility of another major European medal haul before the head-to-head competition begins later on Saturday.

Prindis and Marx return as Kayak Cross world champions

Europe was particularly successful in the traditional head-to-head Kayak Cross competition in Oklahoma City.

Vit Prindis (CZE) became Men's World Champion, with Switzerland's Dimitri Marx taking silver and Great Britain's Sam Leaver bronze – another complete European podium.

The Women's title also came to Europe, with Alena Marx (SUI) winning gold. Australia's Noemie Fox took silver, while Spain's Miren Lazkano secured bronze. Ricarda Funk (GER), Lois Leaver (GBR), Olga Samkova (CZE), Sona Stanovska (SVK) and Zuzana Pankova (SVK) completed a top eight dominated by European athletes.

Both world champions will be back in action this weekend.

Three days, eight individual titles

Competition gets underway on Thursday 3 September with Men's and Women's K1. The heats begin shortly after midday, followed by the finals later in the afternoon and the first medal ceremonies of the World Cup.

Friday 4 September is dedicated to C1, with Women's and Men's heats in the morning before both finals in the early afternoon.

The programme then switches completely to Kayak Cross on Saturday 5 September. Women's and Men's Kayak Cross Individual will award their medals during the morning, before the head-to-head competition starts at 14:04 and builds through the quarterfinals and semifinals towards the Women's final at 16:06 and Men's final at 16:13.

With 236 athletes from 46 countries, 170 European competitors and every European individual world champion from Oklahoma City present, Vaires-sur-Marne brings together another exceptional field.

After winning 20 of the 24 individual World Championship medals and six of the eight titles in Oklahoma City, Europe now returns to one of the sport's biggest stages looking to continue that remarkable run on the Olympic waters of Paris 2024.