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The first final of the day delighted the home crowd, as Czech favourite Martin Fuksa claimed his tenth European title in the men’s C1 500 event. He first stood atop the podium back in 2013 in Montemor-o-Velho. This time, he finished a second and a half ahead of last year’s champion, Serghei Tarnovschi of Moldova, with Romania’s Catalin Chirila close behind in third.

 

Tarnovschi found redemption in the afternoon, winning gold in the men’s C1 5000 event. He crossed the line a second ahead of Poland’s Wiktor Glazunow and Italy’s Carlo Tacchini.

 

Hungary’s Zsoka Csikos had a day to remember, winning two European titles. In the first half of the day, she took gold in the women’s K1 500 – an Olympic distance – narrowly defeating Poland’s Anna Pulawska by just 0.734 seconds. Serbia’s Milica Novakovic took her second bronze of the championships. Csikos then returned to the top of the podium after a thrilling women’s K1 5000 race, edging out Italy’s Susanna Cicali by 0.786 seconds. Sweden’s Melina Andersson claimed bronze.

 

Hungary added another gold in the women’s C1 5000, where Zsofia Csorba led the field. Spain’s Maria Corbera took silver, while Moldova’s Daniela Cociu finished third.

 

The women’s C1 500 final was won by Ukraine’s Liudmyla Luzan, one of several athletes leaving Racice with multiple medals. Hungary’s Reka Opavszky took silver, two seconds behind, with Spain’s Maria Corbera earning bronze.

 

The men’s K1 200 final was a nail-biter, ending in celebration for Serbia as young talent Strahinja Dragosavljevic claimed gold. He was just 0.036 seconds ahead of Portugal’s Messias Baptista, with Spain’s Carlos Arevalo taking bronze. Last year’s champion, Ukraine’s Oleksandr Zaitsev, finished fifth.

 

In the men’s K2 500, the German duo of Jacob Schopf and Max Lemke secured victory ahead of Czechs Jakub Spicar and Daniel Havel. Italy’s Samuele Burgo and Tommaso Freschi picked up bronze.

 

Italy heard their anthem in the men’s C2 500, thanks to Gabriele Casadei and Carlo Tacchini. Spaniards Daniel Grijalba and Adrian Sieiro took silver, with Hungary’s Kristof Kollar and Istvan Juhasz third.

 

Poland’s Martyna Klatt and Anna Pulawska were dominant in the women’s K2 500 final. They finished 0.666 seconds ahead of Germany’s Paulina Paszek and Pauline Jagsch, while Hungary’s Blanka Kiss and Anna Lucz took bronze.

 

Spain claimed gold in the women’s C2 500 event, as Angels Moreno and Viktoriia Yarchevska finished just under a second ahead of Ukraine’s Liudmyla Luzan and Iryna Fedoriv. Hungary’s Agnes Kiss and Blanka Nagy took bronze.

 

The very last race of the championships – the men’s K1 5000 – featured a tense battle among the same three athletes who medalled at last year’s European Championships in Szeged. The result was identical: gold for Portugal’s Fernando Pimenta, silver for Hungary’s Adam Varga, and bronze for Denmark’s Mads Pedersen.

 

The 2026 ECA Canoe Sprint and Paracanoe European Championships will be hosted in Montemor-o-Velho, Portugal.