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25.9.2026
The Czech paddler delivered a superb clean run of 82.41 seconds, finishing almost two seconds ahead of Italy’s Xabier Ferrazzi and 2.92 seconds ahead of Olympic champion Giovanni De Gennaro.
Ferrazzi took silver with 84.38, while De Gennaro completed a double home podium for Italy with bronze in 85.33.
For Krejci, already the 2026 World champion, the result adds the European crown to an extraordinary season and confirms his position at the very top of men’s kayak slalom.
Krejci had already shown his speed in the semifinal, finishing second behind De Gennaro by only 0.48 seconds.
In the final, however, he found another level.
His clean 82.41 was more than four seconds faster than his semifinal run and immediately created a major target for the remaining athletes.
Nobody came close.
Ferrazzi finished 1.97 seconds behind, while De Gennaro was 2.92 back.
It was the kind of final performance expected from a reigning World champion — fast, clean and decisive when the title was on the line.
Xabier Ferrazzi had been one of the fastest paddlers throughout the Championships.
He topped Thursday’s heats and then produced the fastest raw time of Friday morning’s semifinal, only to lose two seconds through a penalty.
In the final, there was no penalty.
Ferrazzi stopped the clock at 84.38, enough for a superb silver medal on home water.
Although Krejci had moved the standard significantly higher, Ferrazzi’s performance confirmed that his speed through the opening rounds was no coincidence.
The Italian leaves the K1 competition with a European silver medal and one of the standout performances of the Championships.
Giovanni De Gennaro entered the final after winning the semifinal with a clean 86.26.
The Olympic champion improved again in the medal race, producing a clean 85.33, but Krejci and Ferrazzi were even faster.
The result gave De Gennaro bronze and ensured Italy placed two athletes on the podium.
For the home crowd, it was another major moment.
Italy had already seen Lucia Pistoni take silver in women’s K1 earlier in the session, and the men immediately followed with another two medals.
Defending European champion Jiri Prskavec came extremely close to another podium.
The Czech paddler recorded a raw time of 84.11, which would have been enough for silver.
But a two-second penalty lifted his total to 86.11 and dropped him to fourth place.
Without the touch, Czechia would have taken both gold and silver.
Instead, Prskavec finished 0.78 seconds behind De Gennaro and just outside the medals.
Even so, Czechia leaves the final with another European title through Krejci and two athletes inside the top four.
Great Britain also produced a strong final.
Joseph Clarke finished fifth with a clean 86.81, while Sam Leaver followed in sixth on 87.72.
Both had progressed comfortably from the semifinal and confirmed their consistency with two clean final runs.
For Clarke in particular, the result adds another strong traditional slalom performance before attention later turns to the kayak cross programme.
Behind the top six, penalties began to play a larger role.
Mario Leitner recorded 87.56 but a two-second penalty moved him to seventh on 89.56.
Jan Barta was eighth with a clean 89.58, only 0.02 behind the Austrian.
Lan Tominc, who had been an impressive third in the semifinal, was ninth after a two-second penalty lifted his total to 90.82.
Tommaso Panico finished tenth, also with two penalty seconds.
Ivan Kozlov took 11th, while Mateusz Polaczyk’s medal challenge disappeared after a 50-second penalty left him 12th.
The medal distribution told a particularly strong story for the host nation.
Italy entered the men’s final with three athletes — De Gennaro, Ferrazzi and Panico.
Two of them reached the podium.
Ferrazzi took silver.
De Gennaro took bronze.
And Panico completed the Italian presence in tenth.
Combined with Pistoni’s silver in the women’s K1 final only minutes earlier, Italy collected three individual K1 medals from the morning session.
The final podium brought together three different storylines.
Krejci arrived as the reigning World champion.
Ferrazzi arrived as one of the fastest paddlers of the entire week.
De Gennaro arrived as the Olympic champion and home favourite.
When the final run was complete, it was Krejci who stood above them all.
The final podium:
Jakub Krejci (CZE) — 82.41
Xabier Ferrazzi (ITA) — 84.38 (+1.97)
Giovanni De Gennaro (ITA) — 85.33 (+2.92)
After winning the World Championship earlier this season, Jakub Krejci has now added the European title to complete a remarkable 2026 men’s K1 campaign.
© 2021 ECA
