We use cookies to improve our site and your experience. By continuing to browse our site you accept our cookie policy
We use cookies to improve our site and your experience. By continuing to browse our site you accept our cookie policy
25.9.2026
The Italian delivered a clean run of 95.68 seconds, enough to finish 1.73 seconds ahead of Klaudia Zwolinska and 2.41 ahead of Monica Doria.
But while Pistoni gave the home crowd plenty to celebrate, the semifinal also produced one of the biggest surprises of the Championships: Thursday’s fastest qualifier and women’s K1 team champion Eliska Mintalova failed to reach the final.
Pistoni had qualified comfortably through Thursday’s heats and later helped Italy win silver in the women’s K1 team event.
On Friday morning, she moved to another level. Her clean 95.68 was the fastest total time of the semifinal and gave Italy the top position heading into the medal race.
It continues an impressive opening two days for the Italian women, who already collected team medals in both K1 and C1 on Thursday.
Pistoni will not be Italy’s only representative in the final either.
Stefanie Horn took the final qualifying position in 12th with a clean 102.57, meaning the host nation will have two athletes among the 12 finalists.
Klaudia Zwolinska actually recorded the fastest raw time of the semifinal.
The Polish Olympic silver medallist stopped the clock at 95.41, 0.27 seconds faster than Pistoni, but a two-second penalty lifted her total to 97.41 and second place.
The result keeps the 2024 European champion firmly in contention for another European title.
With the final resetting the competition once again, the narrow difference in raw speed between Pistoni and Zwolinska provides an obvious storyline for the medal race.
Monica Doria continued a strong morning for Andorra, qualifying third with a clean 98.09.
Emma Vuitton followed in fourth for France on 98.73, with Germany’s Emily Apel fifth on 99.05.
Zuzana Pankova also safely progressed in sixth, giving Slovakia another opportunity for an individual medal after its women’s K1 team gold on Thursday.
Eva Alina Hocevar, Alena Marx and Amalie Hilgertova occupied positions seven to nine, while Viktoriia Us completed the top ten.
Sona Stanovska and Horn claimed the final two places in the medal race.
The biggest story below the cut belonged to Mintalova.
On Thursday she had been the fastest woman in the K1 heats before helping Slovakia win the opening European title of the Championships in the team event.
Her speed was again competitive in the semifinal.
Mintalova recorded a raw time of 99.83, which would have placed her comfortably inside the final, but four penalty seconds increased her total to 103.83.
That left her 13th — the first athlete outside the final — just 1.26 seconds behind Horn.
It is a dramatic reversal from a near-perfect opening day and another reminder of how unforgiving the semifinal format can be.
Mintalova was not the only major name to miss out.
Eva Tercelj finished 14th with a clean 103.89, only 0.06 behind Mintalova.
Mallory Franklin followed in 15th after a two-second penalty left her on 104.02, while Katerina Bekova was 16th on 104.07.
Marjorie Delassus also missed the final after accumulating four penalty seconds, finishing 21st.
Spain, meanwhile, will have no representative in the final. Leire Goni finished 17th, while Olatz Arregui and Laia Sorribes both suffered major penalty totals.
The 12 places in the women’s K1 final are spread across 10 nations, underlining just how open the medal race remains.
Italy and Slovakia are the only countries with two finalists.
Italy has Pistoni and Horn, while Slovakia will be represented by Pankova and Stanovska.
Poland, Andorra, France, Germany, Slovenia, Switzerland, Czechia and Ukraine each have one athlete through.
The finalists are:
Lucia Pistoni (ITA), Klaudia Zwolinska (POL), Monica Doria (AND), Emma Vuitton (FRA), Emily Apel (GER), Zuzana Pankova (SVK), Eva Alina Hocevar (SLO), Alena Marx (SUI), Amalie Hilgertova (CZE), Viktoriia Us (UKR), Sona Stanovska (SVK) and Stefanie Horn (ITA).
With defending champion Ricarda Funk not competing in Ivrea, Friday’s final will produce a new European women’s K1 champion.
Zwolinska already knows what it takes to win this title, having been European champion in 2024, while Horn shared the European title in 2022.
Pistoni, however, now carries the fastest semifinal result and the momentum of racing in front of the Italian crowd.
Pankova, Vuitton, Apel and Hocevar all showed enough speed in the semifinal to remain firmly in the medal conversation, while the clean runs from Doria and the rest of the top group underline how small the margins could become.
Only 6.89 seconds separated first from 12th in the semifinal.
The first individual European title of the 2026 Championships is now just one run away.
Lucia Pistoni leads the field into the women’s K1 final — but after a semifinal that already eliminated the fastest athlete from Thursday, nothing is guaranteed in Ivrea.
© 2021 ECA
