New world champions were crowned, records were broken, history was made and exciting prospects delivered on the big stage.
The 2025 International Canoe Federation Canoe Sprint and Paracanoe World Championships in Milan, Italy was memorable for so many reasons after a fantastic programme of races.
Here are five things that we learned:
Click here for startlists and live results in Milan
Queens of kayak and canoe
If there was a prize for paddler of the week, Liudmyla Luzan would be the clear winner. The Ukrainian was in electric form in Milan, capturing an astonishing four world titles. As well as teaming up with Iryna Fedoriv to triumph in the canoe double over 200m and 500m, Luzan also starred in the single boat over both distances. Victory in the women’s C1 200m will give her huge confidence having overcome a stacked field including Olympic gold medallist Katie Vincent of Canada and 2023 world champion Yarisleidis Cirilo Duboys of Cuba. Poland’s Anna Pulawska was another standout performer in Milan. She was on fire, powering to the women’s kayak single 500m title before teaming up with Martyna Klatt to win women’s kayak double 500m gold. It caps a phenomenal year for Pulawska as she sets her sights on Los Angeles 2028 success.
New K4 combinations add to mix
Last year, Portugal did not qualify a boat for the men’s kayak four 500m. Twelve months later, Portugal are now the world and European champions. It’s been some transformation with Gustavo Goncalves, Joao Ribeiro, Messias Baptista, and Pedro Casinha coming together to form a fantastic four and they will have plenty of confidence for this Olympic cycle. The same can be said of Spain’s new quartet. Sara Ouzande and Estefania Fernandez are the surviving members of the team that finished sixth in the Olympic final in Paris. Now, with Lucia Val and Barbara Pardo in the boat, Spain are proving to be a different animal as they become K4 world champions for the first time along with Portugal.
Near misses for Australia but Drobot shows future is bright
With four silver medals, Australia will be disappointed not to have gone one better. Thomas Green came within a whisker of capturing the men’s K1 1000m crown while Alyssa Buck was on course to win over the same distance in the women’s event only to have to settled for silver. But there are promising signs for Australia with 20-year-old Natalia Drobot coming to the fore. Drobot, who was backed by our commentator Alyce Wood to star in Milan, put Pulawska under all sorts of pressure before finishing in second spot. She also sealed another silver with Kailey Harlen after finishing behind Pulawska and Klatt but there is clearly plenty of reasons to be excited by the potential of this Australian paddler who will be also be eyeing Brisbane 2032.
Kopasz leads Hungarian charge to top table
Hungary topped the medals table in Milan, with six golds, two silvers and five bronzes. The next best nation was Ukraine with four golds - all won by Luzan. The Hungarian team continued to showcase their strength across the categories. In kayak, Tokyo 2020
gold medallist Balint Kopasz overcame Green to seal the 1000m title and Kolos Csizmadia powered to the 200m crown. Levente Kurucz and Bence Nadas emerged victorious from the men’s kayak double 500m final while Zsoka Csikos fought back to beat Buck to the women’s K1 1000m title. The Hungarians were also triumphant in the canoe winning both the C4 titles thanks to Agnes Anna Kiss, Bianka Nagy, Reka Opavszky and Zsofia Katalin Csorba in the women’s and Kristof Kollar, Istvan David Juhasz, and Jonatan Daniel Hajdu in the men’s.
Yemelianov is firing again as GB set new records
The level of Paracanoe races continue to be raised. Three world’s best times were set in Milan, all made by British paddlers. Jack Eyers set 47.10 in the men’s VL3, Laura Sugar registered 45.94 in the women’s KL3, and Charlotte Henshaw clocked 48.55 and then 48.07 in the women’s KL2. That’s a full second quicker than her previous best set in Paris last year. Great Britain lead the way with Henshaw and Sugar triumphing along with David Phillipson in the men’s KL2 and Hope Gordon in the women’s VL3. Serhii Yemelianov will also be seeking to reach new heights. Back after three years away, Yemelianov, who is now competing for Georgia after switching from Ukraine, returned to the top of the podium. He stormed to the men’s KL3 title, crossing in 40.31 as he aims to better his world’s best time of 39.81 set in 2016.
Full coverage of the ICF Canoe Sprint and Paracanoe World Championships can be viewed on the Planet Canoe YouTube channel.
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