Ukraine’s Liudmyla Luzan capped a remarkable week in Milan, Italy by winning her fourth gold medal on a rain-hit final day at the International Canoe Federation Canoe Sprint World Championships.
Luzan has been in sensational form and sealed victory in the women’s canoe single 200m with another phenomenal performance.
It adds to her golds in the women’s C1 500m and in the women’s canoe double over both the 200m and 500m distances alongside Iryna Fedoriv.
The last day of competition also saw Poland’s Anna Pulawska and Martyna Klatt and Hungary’s Levente Kurucz and Bence Nadas win the kayak double titles, and Individual Neutral Athletes (AIN) Zakhar Petrov and Ivan Shtyl capture the men’s canoe double 500m crown.
Among the non-Olympic events, Czechia’s Josef Dostal retained the men’s kayak single 500m title, Nan Wang made history for China in the women’s K1 200m, and Hungary clinched women’s canoe four 500m gold.
In the 5000m races to end the day, AIN paddler Volha Klimava and Moldova’s Serghei Tarnovschi won the C1 titles, and Sweden’s Melina Andersson and Denmark’s Mads Brandt Pedersen swept to victory in the K1 events.
Luzan was high on confidence after completing her golden hat-trick yesterday, but it was the women’s C1 200m that had previously eluded her.
She also came up against stiff opposition with Canada’s Olympic gold medallist Katie Vincent, Cuba’s defending champion Yarisleidi Cirilo Duboys, and red-hot Spaniard Viktoriia Yarchevska lining up.
It was a gripping race with Cirilo Duboys threatening to snatch victory away from Luzan while Vincent was battling hard.
Luzan held her form to win in 46.09 as Cirilo Duboys claimed silver in 46.27 and AIN paddler Ekaterina Shliapnikova edged out Vincent by 0.09 to take bronze.
“This is magic,” said Luzan.
“It is amazing.
“Now I am going to sleep and celebrate and come back even stronger.
“I did everything I could to achieve this victory, and although it wasn't an easy start, I tried my best to secure it, and I am incredibly happy.”
Petrov and Shtyl emerged victorious from the men’s C2 500m final as home favourites Gabriele Casadei and Carlo Tacchini missed out on a medal.
The volume increased at the Idroscalo Regatta Course as the home fans got behind Casadei and Tacchini, who claimed Olympic silver last year – but they were left behind in this race.
Petrov and Shtyl looked calm and composed as they powered in front, while China’s Yuebin Yu and Chenwei Yu, Spain’s Joan Antoni Moreno and Diego Dominguez, and Hungary’s Kristof Kollar and Istvan David Juhasz battled for the other spots.
The AIN pair secured gold in 1:39.63 as Yuebin Yu and Chenwei Yu clinched silver in 1:40.60 and Kollar and Juhasz took bronze in 1:40.74.
“We have been preparing for this race for a while, and we are happy to have won,” said Petrov.
“Now, we move on to next year.
“We do not want to be too fast because we cannot show our real strength to everyone, so we keep quiet.”
Kurucz and Nadas overcame Olympic champions Germany and world title holders Portugal to clinch victory.
At the halfway mark, Portugal’s Joao Ribeiro and Messias Baptista had their nose in front of Germany’s Jacob Schopf and Max Lemke, while Kurucz and Nadas were also motoring.
It was a thrilling finish with Kurucz and Nadas, in lane nine, crossing in 1:29.28.
Ribeiro and Baptista, who were part of Portugal’s kayak four 500m winning team, claimed silver in 1:28.44 as Schopf and Lemke earned bronze in 1:28.94.
“It feels amazing,” said Kurucs.
“We executed our tactics really well.
“I am really happy to race with Bence. I look up to him.”
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Polish star Pulawska won her second gold medal of the World Championships after partnering Klatt to the women’s K2 500m crown.
New Zealand, boosted by the return of eight-time Olympic champion Lisa Carrington to link up with Tara Vaughan, got off to a good start, but the tussle for top spot was in lanes four and five.
Australia’s Kailey Harlen and Natalia Drobot held the lead for much of the race, only for the Polish pair to come out on top.
Klatt and Pulawska claimed gold in 1:41.34 as Harlen and Drobot earned silver in 1:41.92, and Germany’s Paulina Paszek and Pauline Jagsch finished strongly to win bronze in 1:43.19.
“It is really surprising for me, I'm really happy that we did it,” said Pulawska.
“I am going to start my holiday now.
“I will be ready for next year, and I hope it can be better.”
Wang produced a superb performance from lane two to clinch the women’s K1 200m title by 0.15, becoming the first Chinese paddler to win gold in a kayak event.
She lunged across the finish line to win in 41.46 as Slovenia’s Anja Osterman claimed silver in 41.61 and Great Britain’s Emily Lewis earned bronze in 41.66.
“I made history for China in the 200m, so I am very proud,” said Wang.
“It was great. This medal means a lot to us as it’s an improvement for the team. We hope there will be more female medallists (from China) in the future.”
Czechia’s Josef Dostal came from behind to secure men’s K1 500m gold after beating Hungary’s Adam Varga by 0.09.
It was a three-horse race over the first 250 metres with AIN paddler Maxim Spesivtsev, Varga, and Spain’s Alex Graneri challenging.
Dostal was left with plenty to do before turning up the pace as he challenged Varga for the title.
It went right down to the wire with a kick finish proving key to Dostal’s win in 1:38.43 – his first world title since becoming a father.
Varga had to settle for silver after crossing in 1:38.52, while Graneri bagged bronze in 1:39.71.
“I got third place in the 1000m, which I’m satisfied with, but once you become Olympic champion, every time you don’t win, you lose,” said Dostal.
“I just wanted to give it my all. At the finish line, I thought I was second or third, but when my sister told me, “You won”, I was like, ‘what?’ which made me really happy.”
Hungary saw off the quartets from AIN and China to clinch the women’s C4 500m crown after a superb performance from lane eight.
The Hungarian team of Agnes Anna Kiss, Bianka Nagy, Reka Opavszky and Zsofia Katalin Csorba proved too strong, crossing first in 1:46.43.
AIN quartet Viktoryia Nestsiarenka, Anhelina Bardanouskaya, Klimava, and Lizaveta Prymak picked up silver in 1:47.48, while the bronze went to China’s Xina Jiang, Anshuo Teng, Mengya Sun, and Yanan Ma, who finished in 1:47.50.
“It was a great race, we had a very strong second half of this 500m,” said Kiss.
“It was very painful in the end, but it was all worth it.”
Klimava returned to the top of the podium in the women’s C1 5000m, adding to her victories in 2019 and 2021.
As soon as she overtook Hungary’s Csorba, there was no looking back for Klimava as she triumphed in 26:19.99.
Vincent claimed silver in 26.34.92, with Csorba dropping to third spot as she finished in 26:48.01.
“There are a lot of unforgettable emotions,” said Klimava.
“This is the first time I have won this with a portage. It’s nothing new to me, having done marathon races, but I love this distance.”
Tarnovschi got the better of Spain’s Jaime Duro in an absorbing duel to seal men’s C1 5000m gold.
Duro was on Tarnovschi’s coattails throughout, but the Moldovan held firm, winning in 23:41.31. The Spaniard picked up silver in 23:43.67, while the bronze medal went to Poland’s defending champion Wiktor Glazunow, who crossed in 23:53.73.
“The conditions were good and it was a very tight race,” said Tarnovschi.
“The Spanish guy sat on my wave, which was not so easy, but it is my third World Championships title and first time in first place in 5k, so I’m very happy.”
Andersson proved a class above as she cruised to victory in the women’s K1 5000m.
She proved far too strong, taking the win in 23:10.86 as Italy’s Susana Cicali came second in 23:54.97 and Norway’s Anna Margrete Sletsjoee earned bronze in 24:17.48.
“The first part of the race was really hard, but I just sat in the group, went hard and trusted my instincts, and tried to go for it in the portage,” said Andersson.
“It’s been a lot of racing, and I have been a little up and down in motivation. It’s hard to recover fast and still be strong.”
Fresh from winning gold at The World Games 2025 in Chengdu like Andersson, Pedersen overcame the challenge of South Africa’s Hamish Lovemore to capture the men’s K1 5000m title for the third successive year.
The lead changed several times before Pedersen pulled away in the final lap to win in 20:53.89. Lovemore picked up silver in 21:13.36, while Varga clinched bronze in 21:13.36.
“It was a bit like two weeks ago when we competed in China, which went a similar way, whereas this time it was the World Championships in the 5k,” said Pedersen.
“It was a tough race, but it was good to come through and win.
“It’s always huge to win a World Championships and compete against the best in the world. It was a very good experience and I’m super happy.
“In January, my girlfriend and I are expecting a baby, so it’s a very exciting time.”
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