News

Italy’s Lucia Pistoni continued her outstanding Championships by taking bronze in 48.76, only 0.10 seconds behind Zwolinska and 0.74 behind the new European champion.

For Woods, the title provides the strongest possible response to a traditional slalom campaign that had begun with disappointment.

For Zwolinska and Pistoni, meanwhile, the podium extends two of the defining individual stories of the Championships.

Woods turns difficult K1 campaign into European gold

Woods’ Championships have taken a dramatically different direction since Thursday.

Her women’s K1 campaign ended unexpectedly in the heats after penalties pushed her outside the semifinal places.

She recovered on Friday by reaching the C1 final and finishing eighth.

Then came Cross.

In Kayak Cross Individual, Woods produced a 48.02-second run that nobody could match.

It was the fastest performance of the entire women’s field and gave Great Britain another individual European title in Ivrea, only one day after Mallory Franklin won women’s C1 gold.

For Woods, already an Olympic medallist in Kayak Cross, the European title confirms once again how dangerous she is in the discipline.

Zwolinska adds silver to K1 gold

Klaudia Zwolinska’s remarkable Championships continued with another medal.

Only one day after becoming European champion in women’s K1, the Polish athlete produced 48.66 in Kayak Cross Individual to take silver.

She finished 0.64 seconds behind Woods but only 0.10 ahead of Pistoni.

It gives Zwolinska a second individual medal in Ivrea after Friday’s K1 gold.

She had also contested the women’s C1 final, finishing seventh, meaning her Championships have stretched across three different individual disciplines at the highest level.

Few athletes in Ivrea have demonstrated the same combination of versatility and consistency.

Pistoni reaches the podium again on home water

Lucia Pistoni has become one of the revelations of the Championships.

On Friday, the Italian produced the fastest women’s K1 semifinal before going on to take European silver behind Zwolinska.

Twenty-four hours later, she was back on the podium.

Her 48.76 secured Kayak Cross Individual bronze, just 0.74 seconds behind Woods.

That means Pistoni has now collected two individual European medals on home water in Ivrea.

And once again, she shared the podium with Zwolinska — although this time the order changed, with Woods taking gold ahead of the K1 champion and silver medallist from Friday.

Only 0.80 separates the top four

The battle for the medals was extremely tight.

Camille Prigent finished fourth for France in 48.82, only 0.06 seconds behind Pistoni and 0.80 behind Woods.

That left the French paddler agonisingly close to the podium after a difficult traditional K1 competition earlier in the Championships.

Chiara Sabattini gave Italy another strong result in fifth with 49.01, meaning two Italian athletes finished inside the top five.

The entire top five was separated by less than one second.

Great Britain puts three inside the top ten

Woods’ gold was the highlight of another strong British performance.

Lois Leaver finished sixth in 49.33, while newly crowned European C1 champion Mallory Franklin took tenth in 50.20.

Great Britain therefore placed three athletes inside the top ten across another discipline.

Franklin’s result was especially notable given that less than 24 hours earlier she had won the women’s C1 European title by just 0.03 seconds.

Woods now adds another gold to Britain’s individual medal tally.

Marx eighth as World champion begins European Kayak Cross campaign

Alena Marx finished eighth in 49.76, 1.74 seconds behind Woods.

The Swiss paddler entered Ivrea as one of the major Kayak Cross names after winning the 2026 World Championship H2H title.

Her eighth place in the Individual event keeps her safely among the strongest athletes heading into the head-to-head competition.

France’s Angele Hug, Paris 2024 Olympic silver medallist in Kayak Cross, finished immediately behind in ninth.

Familiar faces from Friday return to the front

The podium created a fascinating link between traditional slalom and Kayak Cross.

On Friday, the women’s K1 podium was:

Klaudia Zwolinska
Lucia Pistoni
Emily Apel

Twenty-four hours later, Zwolinska and Pistoni were back on another European podium.

This time, however, Woods was ahead of both.

Apel also performed strongly, finishing seventh in 49.72.

It underlined the versatility of several athletes who have been able to move immediately from traditional K1 into the very different demands of Kayak Cross.

Pankova among the notable names further down the order

Further back, Zuzana Pankova endured a more difficult run.

After reaching both the K1 and C1 finals on Friday, the Slovakian finished 36th with 56.95.

Paulina Pirro recorded a significantly faster time of 51.43 but received a fault at Gate 6, while Mariia Sokolova was also classified with a fault at Gate 2.

Eliska Mintalova did not start.

Woods adds another European title for Great Britain

The European podium:

Kimberley Woods (GBR) — 48.02
Klaudia Zwolinska (POL) — 48.66 (+0.64)
Lucia Pistoni (ITA) — 48.76 (+0.74)

Three athletes who have already been central figures throughout the Championships now share another podium.

Zwolinska adds silver to her K1 European title. Pistoni adds bronze to her K1 silver. But the fastest athlete was Woods.

After seeing her traditional K1 campaign end much earlier than expected, Kimberley Woods has completely rewritten the story of her Championships — and is now the 2026 European Women’s Kayak Cross Individual champion.