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Europe is once again expected to play a leading role across both sprint and paracanoe disciplines. Following a dominant showing by European nations in Szeged, many of the continent’s biggest stars arrive in Brandenburg aiming to continue their strong early-season form. Germany, Hungary, Portugal, Spain, Poland, Czechia, Great Britain and Ukraine are all expected to be among the major contenders throughout the weekend.

In sprint, several headline names are already confirmed. The men’s K1 1000m features an outstanding field including Portugal’s Fernando Pimenta, Olympic champion Josef Dostal of Czechia, Hungary’s Balint Kopasz and Australia’s Thomas Green.

The men’s K4 500m once again highlights Europe’s depth in team boats. Germany lines up with an experienced crew including Max Rendschmidt, Tom Liebscher-Lucz and Max Lemke, while Portugal fields Joao Ribeiro, Messias Baptista and Pedro Casinha in one of the strongest Portuguese combinations of the season.

In the explosive K1 200m, Europe will again dominate the spotlight with Spain’s Carlos Arevalo, Serbia’s Marko Dragosavljevic, Hungary’s Sandor Totka and Portuguese paddlers Messias Baptista and Iago Bebiano all entered.

Women’s canoe events are also expected to deliver high-quality European battles. Ukraine’s Olympic medallist Liudmyla Luzan, Spain’s Maria Corbera, Poland’s Dorota Borowska and several emerging European athletes headline a strong international field in the C1 and C2 events.

However, one of the biggest storylines in Brandenburg will be the return of paracanoe competition to the World Cup circuit. With no paracanoe races held in Szeged, Brandenburg represents the first major international test of the new Paralympic cycle following Paris 2024.

The start lists confirm the presence of several Paralympic champions and major international medallists.

Among the Paralympic champions entered are:

• Peter Kiss (HUN) – Paralympic champion in KL1 Men;
• Curtis McGrath (AUS) – Paralympic champion in KL2 Men;
• Charlotte Henshaw (GBR) – Paralympic champion in KL2 Women and VL3 Women;
• Emma Wiggs (GBR) – Paralympic champion and multiple-time world champion in VL2 Women;
• Fernando Rufino de Paulo (BRA) – Paralympic champion in VL2 Men;
• Vladyslav Yepifanov (UKR) – Paralympic champion in VL3 Men.

Great Britain once again arrives with one of the strongest paracanoe teams in the world, featuring Charlotte Henshaw, Emma Wiggs, Jack Eyers and Robert Oliver, while Hungary, Spain, Ukraine, France, Germany, Poland and Portugal also bring experienced international medal contenders.

Brandenburg is also expected to provide an important early indication of the competitive landscape for the new Olympic and Paralympic cycle toward Los Angeles 2028, with many nations using this World Cup to collect the first points for the new Olympic Qualification  Ranking.