France’s Nicolas Gestin and Poland’s Klaudia Zwolinska overcame strong winds on a challenging course to clinch canoe gold medals at the 2025 International Canoe Federation Slalom World Championships in Sydney, Australia.
Olympic champion Gestin continued his sensational form to secure the men’s C1 title, while Zwolinska secured Poland’s first-ever women’s C1 gold.
Kaylen Bassett bagged Australia’s first medal of the World Championships, while there were also podium spots for Great Britain, Brazil and an Individual Neutral Athlete (AIN).
Here’s what the medallists had to say after a thrilling Thursday.
Click here for live startlists and results from Sydney
Women’s Canoe
Klaudia ZWOLINSKA (POL – gold)
I can't believe that this actually happened to me today. I'm confident in the K1 but in the C1, I have always had some small mistakes and finally, today, my two runs were really good, and I'm so happy. The conditions were super hard. It was super windy, so I'm so proud of myself and now I'm enjoying Australia so much - I'm loving this place. My strength is being a more technical athlete. I'm not really strong. So, when it was conditions like this, I knew that I needed to be really technical. My moves needed to be really good and clean. So, I was focusing on it, and I knew before the race it will be my strength, that it's windy and I need to do it, and I need to do it really clear. I'm still feeling like it's a dream. Like in my dreams, I was thinking about the K1 – to fight for the gold because I had the medals before in this event. But with C1 I was like, okay, let's go, let's fight, but I knew before that it would be really hard to get a medal. It's so weird.
Alsu MINAZOVA (AIN – silver)
The run was amazing because my last World Championships was in 2021. I'm so happy to be here and competing again. Unbelievable. I don't know, I think I don't understand what's happening – this was so unexpected. I had a really good run, really fast. I had two seconds penalty, but the run was still really good, it's my level. I can't really celebrate this one, I have a race tomorrow and need to focus on K1. After, of course, we will celebrate this medal for our team.
Ana SATILA (BRA – bronze)
There are a mix of feelings right now. I'm really happy with my run, I think the conditions were not so good. It was so windy, and I was worried, I didn't want to lose my paddle in the middle of the race while switching it. I was trying to focus on the best I could do during my final, to be calm and to try to do my best again. I'm proud of my run. But when I finished, I was first and then they added a touch penalty. The judges couldn't show on the video how I touched, so it's a bit sad, but I think I've been through this kind of situation many, many times during my whole career. So, I'm happy to be on the podium and to get another medal for my country. It was the best support I ever had in my whole life until now. After the Olympics, with our good results, everybody decided to support a bit more. It's the first time that we have a big team like this. We have doctors, physios, preparators and psychologists. Everyone tries to help me to do my best in the water. And today's race showed that it was worth it. I had a terrible beginning of the season, I didn't compete at all. Coming back this way and being here and getting a medal just means so much to me.
Men’s Canoe
Nicolas GESTIN (FRA – gold)
I know how difficult it is to perform consistently. Today in particular, with the wind and the conditions, I was really 100% focused. But of course, for me, stacking up titles, strong performances, and World Cup wins this season has allowed me to arrive with full confidence. I know that in a one-day race like today, I can really let loose. Starting last doesn’t bother me. I’ve had that spot quite a few times at the Games, I’d start last because I won the semi-final. In the end, for me, the more pressure the context puts on me, the more it fires me up. That’s how I see it and honestly, I kind of like it. “I didn’t have the info on the paddlers just before me, because I couldn’t hear anything on the mic, but I did know that Ryan Westley, who went at the beginning of the final, clocked a 98 and improved on his semi-final time. That was useful info, I knew I had to let loose. I think the Olympic title gave me a sense of lightness. When you can take risks in the boat and it doesn’t impact your socio-professional life which, in paddle, is always a bit unstable, it’s a lot easier. In any case, my career is a success, even more so now with a world champion title. But for sure, there's more ease, and I think that's necessary in a sport like slalom, where taking risks is constant.
Ryan WESTLEY (GBR – silver)
“It was painful at the end to just miss out on the title. I've had the privilege of standing on the top step of the European Championships and hearing the national anthem and that does just feel that extra bit special. But if you'd have given me this (silver medal) this morning, I'd have bitten your hand and your arm and everything else off to get it. I've been struggling here, I find the course here really tough to paddle on. I find it really hard to get the run of the boat. But I think the course set suited me quite well this time. I've always done well in finals, it feels like all the pressure's off, it's just all fun from that point on. Everything to gain, nothing to lose. I don't think it's really sunk in yet. There is disappointment for not quite winning, which is crazy because I would have taken a final. I'm sure it will all kind of sink in the days to come.
Kaylen BASSETT (AUS – bronze)
I'm shocked. I don't believe it, still. I feel like I’m still waiting for someone else to come down the course, to be honest, but I think it's going to hit me very, very soon. I've had a really good season so far. I've made three out of four finals at the World Cups that I was racing at, but racing in the finals had kind of been this next step that I was trying to overcome and to do it here in front of a home crowd, home course, friends, family, it couldn't have come at a better time and this is a day I've got to remember for sure.
