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2.8.2026
With more than 800 athlete-event entries across canoe slalom, kayak slalom, team events, Kayak Cross Individual and head-to-head Kayak Cross, the Championships are set to deliver five days of high-level competition. In total, 24 European titles will be decided during the week.
Czechia arrives with the largest athlete delegation, with 26 paddlers, closely followed by Great Britain with 25. Spain and Germany each have 24 athletes, while host nation France and Poland both bring teams of 21.
Czechia’s numerical strength follows an exceptional performance at the 2026 ICF Junior and U23 World Championships in Krakow, where the country topped the medal table with 24 medals, including 11 golds.
The level of competition in Épinal is underlined by the presence of 12 athletes who won individual world titles in Krakow earlier this summer.
Together, those athletes account for 13 of the 16 world titles awarded across individual canoe slalom, kayak slalom, Kayak Cross Individual and head-to-head Kayak Cross.
One of the standout names is Barbora Ondrackova of Czechia, who completed a remarkable double by winning both the Junior women’s K1 and C1 world titles. Ondrackova won four gold medals during the week in Krakow, adding the two individual titles to victories in the kayak and canoe team events. She is entered in both individual slalom boats and both team competitions in Épinal.
The Junior men’s C1 will feature Dominik Egyhazy of Slovakia, who arrives in France holding both the 2025 European and 2026 world titles. Egyhazy is one of the busiest leading athletes on the programme, with entries in C1, K1, both team competitions and Kayak Cross.
In Junior men’s K1, Austria’s Max Steinbrenner will start as the current world champion. Steinbrenner is also entered in Kayak Cross, where he finished second in the head-to-head world final behind Czech paddler Marek Petrik.
The U23 men’s C1 promises to deliver one of the most interesting contests of the Championships.
France has entered both Mewen Debliquy, the 2026 world champion, and Elouan Debliquy, the reigning European champion from Solkan 2025.
Mewen Debliquy completed a golden hat-trick in Krakow, winning the individual C1 title as well as the men’s canoe and kayak team competitions. He will again compete in both C1 and K1 in Épinal.
Elouan Debliquy, meanwhile, returns in the same U23 C1 category in which he won the European title last year, setting up a direct meeting between the current world and European champions.
Germany’s Paulina Pirro is another athlete with an ambitious programme. The current U23 women’s K1 world champion is entered in individual C1 and K1, both team events and Kayak Cross.
Great Britain’s Sam Leaver, the reigning U23 men’s K1 world champion, is also on the Épinal entry list, although his participation is focused on Kayak Cross rather than the slalom event in which he won his world title.
Sunday’s Kayak Cross programme will bring together six of the eight athletes who won world titles in Kayak Cross Individual or head-to-head Kayak Cross in Krakow.
In the Junior men’s competition, Poland’s Marek Kulczycki, the world Kayak Cross Individual champion, will line up alongside Marek Petrik of Czechia, who won the head-to-head world title.
The Junior women’s field includes two more Czech world champions. Lucie Vaculova won the Kayak Cross Individual title, while Marketa Stepankova led a Czech one-two-three in the head-to-head final.
The U23 men’s competition will feature Germany’s Enrico Dietz, the world Kayak Cross Individual champion, and France’s Ianis Triomphe, who won the head-to-head world title.
Eleven athletes who won individual European titles at Solkan 2025 are included in the Épinal nominal entry list. However, several have moved from Junior to U23 or are entered in different events.
Three champions are entered in the same category and event in which they won gold last year:
Dominik Egyhazy will defend the Junior men’s C1 title for Slovakia, now also carrying the status of world champion.
Karolina Abrahamova returns in Junior women’s K1. Her attempt to retain the European title will include a direct confrontation with current world champion Barbora Ondrackova.
Elouan Debliquy returns to the U23 men’s C1 competition for France, where Mewen Debliquy now holds the world title.
Other 2025 Junior champions are beginning a new chapter in the U23 category. Spain’s Faust Clotet Juanmarti, the 2025 Junior men’s K1 European champion, will race in U23 K1 and Kayak Cross. Switzerland’s Eyleen Vuilleumier, the Junior women’s C1 champion, is entered in both U23 C1 and K1.
Slovenia’s Ziga Lin Hocevar, winner of the 2025 Junior men’s Kayak Cross Individual title, will also move into the U23 category, competing across C1, K1, team events and Kayak Cross.
The opening ceremony is scheduled for the evening of Tuesday, 4 August, following the final official training sessions and course demonstrations.
Competition begins on Wednesday, 5 August, with the Junior and U23 kayak heats. The afternoon will be dedicated to the four kayak team events, producing the first European champions of the week.
Thursday, 6 August follows the same format for canoe, with C1 heats in the morning and the Junior and U23 canoe team competitions in the afternoon.
The individual kayak titles will be decided on Friday, 7 August, with four semifinals in the morning and the Junior and U23 women’s and men’s finals during the afternoon.
The canoe semifinals and finals will follow on Saturday, 8 August, before the course is changed for the final day of Kayak Cross.
Sunday, 9 August begins with the four Kayak Cross Individual competitions. The afternoon programme then moves into the head-to-head format, progressing through heats, quarterfinals and semifinals before the four finals. The Championships will conclude with the final medal presentations and closing ceremony.
With current world champions, returning European winners and many athletes moving into a new age category, Épinal will offer an early view of the next generation of European canoe slalom and Kayak Cross talent for next decades.
© 2021 ECA
