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9.8.2026
The last day delivered eight more titles, four in the Kayak Cross Time Trial and four in the head-to-head competition, and added another chapter to an outstanding Championships for several of Europe’s leading young paddlers.
No athlete enjoyed Épinal more than Czechia’s Valentyna Kocirova.
Already the individual European champion in both Junior K1 and C1, Kocirova closed the Championships by adding another Kayak Cross title and finished the week with an extraordinary six medals, including four golds and two silvers.
France, meanwhile, held on to first place in the final medal table with seven gold medals, despite Czechia collecting the highest number of medals overall.
The morning’s Kayak Cross Time Trial immediately put Czechia at the centre of the action.
In the Junior women’s event, Lucie Vaculova produced the fastest run in 43.88 seconds, leading an extraordinary Czech clean sweep.
Kocirova was second, 1.29 seconds behind, while Marketa Stepankova completed the podium only 0.14 seconds further back.
The result meant Czechia collected all three medals from the first title race of the day and gave Kocirova a fifth medal before the head-to-head racing had even started.
The Junior men’s Time Trial was considerably tighter.
Poland’s Marek Kulczycki won in 39.14 seconds, just 0.12 ahead of Ukraine’s Arkhyp Krachko, with Spain’s Didac Foz another two hundredths further back in third.
Only 0.14 seconds separated gold from bronze, setting the tone for a highly competitive Junior men’s competition.
Spain celebrated its first gold of the Championships through Leire Goni, who won the U23 women’s Time Trial in 42.90.
Switzerland’s Fia Buetikofer was only 0.13 behind, while Czechia added another medal through Olga Samkova, third at +0.25.
Germany’s Paulina Pirro finished fifth, while Friday’s U23 K1 European champion Dominika Brzeska was fourth, only 0.38 behind Goni.
In the U23 men’s race, Great Britain’s Sam Leaver was the fastest athlete of the morning with a time of 37.23 seconds.
Czechia’s Martin Rudorfer took silver at +0.76, with France’s Gino Benini only 0.02 seconds further back in bronze.
Rudorfer’s medal would prove to be only the beginning of an excellent final day for the Czech paddler.
The Junior women’s head-to-head final provided the perfect conclusion to Kocirova’s extraordinary Championships.
After progressing through the elimination rounds, she won the four-athlete final ahead of Czech teammate Lucie Vaculova, while Switzerland’s Carla Rhein took bronze and Germany’s Neele Krech finished fourth.
For Kocirova, it completed a remarkable collection:
That gives the Czech athlete six medals from Épinal — four gold and two silver.
Even more impressively, she leaves France as European champion in three different individual disciplines: K1, C1 and Kayak Cross head-to-head.
Vaculova also completed an excellent Championships. Her final day alone produced Time Trial gold and Kayak Cross silver, to add to the Junior women’s K1 Team gold won earlier in the week.
The Junior men’s final produced a new country on top of the podium.
Austria’s Max Steinbrenner won the European title ahead of Great Britain’s Sid Griffiths, with Switzerland’s Tim Redling taking bronze. Slovenia’s Jan Jancar completed the final in fourth.
It was a dramatic competition for Time Trial champion Marek Kulczycki. After winning the morning title, the Polish paddler progressed all the way to the semifinal but finished fifth overall, narrowly missing the opportunity to add a second medal.
Arkhyp Krachko experienced an even earlier exit. The Ukrainian had been second in the Time Trial but finished his head-to-head campaign in the heats.
The contrast demonstrated once again the very different demands of the two Kayak Cross formats: pure speed in the Time Trial and positioning, decision-making and direct racing in the elimination competition.
Germany’s Paulina Pirro finished her Championships in style by winning the U23 women’s Kayak Cross European title.
Pirro took victory ahead of Great Britain’s Katherine Shattock, while France’s Lena Quemerais secured bronze. Slovenia’s Naja Pinteric finished fourth.
It was Pirro’s third medal of the Championships.
She had already taken silver with Germany in the U23 women’s K1 Team competition and gold in the C1 Team event. Her Kayak Cross victory therefore gave her a second European title in Épinal and demonstrated her versatility across all three major disciplines.
There were several notable eliminations on the road to the final. Time Trial silver medallist Fia Buetikofer reached the semifinal and finished fifth overall, while Time Trial bronze medallist Olga Samkova was eliminated in the quarterfinals.
U23 K1 champion Dominika Brzeska, fourth in the Time Trial, also exited in the quarterfinal stage.
The last European title of Épinal 2026 went to the host nation.
France’s Ianis Triomphe won the U23 men’s Kayak Cross final, ahead of Czechia’s Martin Rudorfer and Adam Semerad.
Great Britain’s Sam Leaver, who had won the Time Trial earlier in the day, finished fourth.
Rudorfer therefore completed an impressive double silver on the final day, finishing second in both the Time Trial and the head-to-head competition.
France also had Titouan Estanguet inside the semifinal stage. The newly crowned U23 C1 European champion finished fifth overall, narrowly missing what would have been a fourth medal of his Championships.
Estanguet nevertheless ends Épinal with three medals — two golds and one silver, having won the U23 K1 Team and individual C1 titles and taken silver in the C1 Team competition.
Across the complete Championships programme, Kocirova emerged as the most decorated athlete.
Her six medals put her clear at the top of the individual medal count, and her four European titles underline the extraordinary range of her performances.
Behind her, Germany’s Nova Mueller finished with four medals after reaching the podium in both individual slalom disciplines and both team competitions.
Several athletes completed the Championships with three medals.
Among them were France’s Titouan Estanguet, Mewen Debliquy and Margot Lapeze, as well as Germany’s Paulina Pirro.
Estanguet demonstrated his versatility across kayak and canoe, Debliquy collected medals in the K1 and C1 team competitions before adding individual C1 silver, while Lapeze combined team success with an individual C1 bronze.
Pirro’s Kayak Cross title on the final afternoon gave her medals across kayak, canoe and Kayak Cross, another example of the versatility displayed by the leading U23 athletes during the Championships.
The week also produced several athletes with two or more European titles, but Kocirova’s achievement stands apart: three individual European crowns in K1, C1 and Kayak Cross, alongside a team title.
The final day brought significant movement to the medal table, but France maintained the position it had held for much of the Championships.
The host nation finishes Épinal with seven golds, four silvers and six bronzes — 17 medals in total.
Czechia actually collected more medals than any other nation, finishing with an exceptional 18 medals, perfectly divided between six golds, six silvers and six bronzes.
The additional gold medal for France means the host nation wins the medal table despite having one fewer medal overall.
Germany completes the top three with five golds, five silvers and two bronzes, giving it 12 medals.
Poland finishes fourth with three gold medals, while Great Britain’s excellent Kayak Cross performance lifted them to fifth with one gold and four silvers.
Spain collected seven medals, including one gold, while Austria entered the gold-medal table on the final afternoon through Steinbrenner’s Junior Kayak Cross victory.
Italy, Switzerland, Ukraine, Slovakia and Slovenia also leave Épinal with medals.
In total, 12 nations reached the podium, with the 24 Championship events producing exactly 72 medals.
European canoe slalom will not have to wait long for its next major continental event.
Attention now turns to Ivrea, Italy, where the 2026 Paddle Europe Slalom Championships will bring Europe’s leading senior canoe slalom and Kayak Cross athletes together from 24 to 26 September.
After seeing Europe’s next generation take centre stage in Épinal, Ivrea will provide the next opportunity to crown the continent’s best — this time at senior level.
© 2021 ECA
