Solkan (28/08/2016) - The 2016 ECA Junior and U23 Canoe Slalom European Championships in Solkan, Slovenia, has come to an end with exciting finals in women’s kayak and men’s C2 events. Klaudia Zwolinska (POL) managed to defend her Junior European Champion title she won last year in Krakow, Viktoria Wolffhardt (AUT) celebrated gold medal in women’s U23 kayak final, Russian duo Pavel Kotov – Sergei Komkov was the fastest in C2M junior final and Slovakia won a gold medal in U23 men’s C2 final thanks to Matuš Gewissler and Juraj Skakala.
The first final event of the day was C2M junior race where Russian duo Pavel Kotov – Sergei Komkov picked up a gold medal. They were the fastest already in the semi-final. In the final run they crossed the finish line without any penalty seconds and were at the end 2.63 seconds faster than Jakub Brzezinski – Kacper Sztuba from Poland. Eric Borrmann and Leo Braune (GER) finished the race in third place.
In the following event Klaudia Zwolinska (POL) repeated her success from last year’s European Championships in Krakow where she also stood on the top podium position. She was really fast on the Soča River. She picked up two penalty seconds but at the end also had some luck to finish the race only 0.03 seconds ahead of Michaela Haššova (SVK). Spanish kayaker Laia Sorribes who also had a medal at this year’s Junior World Championships picked up bronze medal in Slovenia.
Matuš Gewissler and Juraj Skakala are the new C2M U23 European Champions. They crossed the finish line 0.83 seconds faster than defending champions Michal Wiercioch – Grzegorz Majerczak (POL), while Russians Nikolay Shkliaruk – Igor Mikhailov finished third.
Viktoria Wolffhardt (AUT) won her second medal of the championships (she was third in C1W U23) in women’s U23 kayak final. She was half a second faster than Kimberley Woods, the reigning C1W U23 European Champion, while German representative Lisa Fritsche picked up bronze medal.
Wolffhardt, whose father is a former Yugoslav kayaker, born in Solkan, spends a lot of her time on the Soča River. “It is so awesome. Slovenia is my home as well as Austria. My heart belongs to Slovenia and Austria. It is like a home race. I love the country and the people; it is really special for me and my family. I am often here, because this is the home town of my dad. I try to spend as much time as possible here in Solkan. The race was really hard, at the start I was not even sure how I feel, I was really tired after all the racing, but I said I have to push it. I really wanted to show my best here in Solkan. Everyone I know was here and I really wanted to show them what I can do. I am so happy it came out well at the end,” said Viktoria after the race.
The next ECA Junior and U23 Canoe Slalom European Championships will be held in Hohenlimburg, Germany.
Results: http://siwihome.azurewebsites.net/canoe123/eca?SessionKey=siwidata.1045
