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The numbers underline the scale of the championships. The provisional entry list contains 334 entries across the individual, team and Kayak Cross events, involving 185 unique athletes, while the accreditation system includes 315 members of national federation delegations. The competition will be decided over three days and, according to the final schedule, will award 12 European titles.

The 28 participating delegations with Czechia leading the largest athlete contingent in the nominal list, with Italy, France, Spain, Germany, Slovenia and Switzerland also bringing substantial teams to Ivrea.

Olympic champions return to the European stage

Few European Championship fields can bring together so many athletes who have recently stood on the biggest stages in the sport.

Both European athletes who won individual Olympic canoe slalom titles at Paris 2024 are entered in Ivrea.

Home favourite Giovanni De Gennaro arrives as the reigning Olympic champion in men's K1, while France's Nicolas Gestin holds the Olympic men's C1 title. The depth goes even further: the complete Paris 2024 men's K1 podium will be represented, with silver medallist Titouan Castryck and bronze medallist Pau Echaniz joining De Gennaro.

The same applies to men's C1, where Gestin will again face Olympic silver medallist Adam Burgess and bronze medallist Matej Beňuš. Among the women, Paris K1 silver medallist Klaudia Zwolińska and bronze medallist Kimberley Woods are also included in the Ivrea field.

For De Gennaro in particular, the championships will have an additional dimension: the Italian Olympic champion will compete for a European title on home water.

Newly crowned world champions head to Ivrea

The European Championships come only two months after the 2026 ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships in Oklahoma City, creating a direct comparison between the athletes who have just reached the top of the world and Europe's strongest challengers.

Spain's Miquel Travé will arrive as the new men's C1 world champion after taking gold in Oklahoma City ahead of Adam Burgess and Lukas Kratochvil. Travé is one of the most interesting names on the Ivrea list, with entries in both C1 and K1.

Czechia's Jakub Krejci is the reigning men's K1 world champion, having won the Oklahoma City final ahead of Michal Pasiut, with Olympic champion De Gennaro taking bronze.

The Czech team also includes Tereza Kneblova, the newly crowned women's C1 world champion. She led Monica Doria and Klaudia Zwolińska in the Oklahoma City final, and all three will meet again in Ivrea.

In Kayak Cross, Alena Marx of Switzerland arrives as the reigning women's world champion after defeating Noemie Fox and Miren Lazkano in Oklahoma City. Marx is set for a particularly busy championship, with entries across K1, C1 and Kayak Cross.

Defending European champions face another major test

Ivrea will also reunite almost all of the individual champions crowned at the 2025 European Championships in Vaires-sur-Marne.

Travé has the unusual opportunity to arrive as both reigning European and world champion in men's C1, having won the 2025 European title ahead of Gestin. Jiri Prskavec returns as the defending men's K1 European champion, while Monica Doria will defend the women's C1 title. Jakub Krejci is also the reigning European champion in men's Kayak Cross, and France's Camille Prigent holds the women's Kayak Cross crown.

The only one of the six individual 2025 European champions not appearing in the current nominal entries is women's K1 champion Ricarda Funk.

That combination means Ivrea will not simply bring together established international names. It will place Olympic champions, athletes who dominated last year's European Championships and competitors who became world champions only weeks ago on the same start line.

Three very different days of competition

Before racing begins, five days of official training are underway  from 19 September. Wednesday 23 September will conclude with course preparation and the Opening Ceremony from 18:00, setting the stage for the first championship races the following morning.

Thursday 24 September will be the qualification and team events day. Women's and men's K1 heats open the programme from 09:00, followed by the C1 heats. The afternoon then shifts directly to the team competitions, with women's K1, men's K1, women's C1 and men's C1 all deciding their European champions before the end of the opening competition day.

Friday will be entirely focused on the individual K1 and C1 medals. The programme begins with the women's and men's kayak semifinals, each featuring 30 athletes, before the top 12 progress to their respective finals. Women's K1 gold is scheduled to be decided from 11:30, followed by the men's final from 12:15.

After the midday break, the same format will be repeated in canoe. Women's and men's C1 semifinals lead into the two finals from 17:00 and 17:45 respectively, completing a day on which four individual European champions will be crowned.

Kayak Cross brings a long final day

Saturday 26 September will give the championships a very different finale.

Following official Kayak Cross training in the morning, the new Kayak Cross Individual competition takes centre stage. The women's competition is scheduled from 14:20, followed by the men's event from 15:15, with both medal ceremonies immediately afterwards.

The championship then switches to the head-to-head Kayak Cross format. Heats begin from 17:20, with the decisive elimination rounds taking place in the evening. Quarterfinals are scheduled from 20:20, followed by semifinals from 21:00 and the women's and men's finals from 21:25 and 21:35 respectively.

The final medal presentations and Closing Ceremony will bring three packed days of competition to an end. Sunday 27 September remains reserved as a backup day in case technical or meteorological conditions require changes to the programme.

Ivrea ready for the champions

With Olympic champions Giovanni De Gennaro and Nicolas Gestin, newly crowned world champions Miquel Travé, Jakub Krejci, Tereza Kneblova and Alena Marx, and defending European champions including Jiri Prskavec, Monica Doria and Camille Prigent, the ingredients are already in place for a highly competitive championship.

And they represent only part of a field featuring Olympic, World and European Championship medallists throughout virtually every category.

For now, the numbers tell the first part of the story: 185 athletes, 28 delegations, 334 entries, more than 300 national-team delegation members, 12 European titles and three days of racing in Ivrea.

The next chapter will be decided on the water from 24 September.