Czechia’s Gabriela Satkova has announced her retirement from competitive Canoe Slalom at the age of just 24.
Despite her young age, Satkova leaves behind an impressive legacy, winning multiple European and world titles.
Satkova announced herself on the big stage in 2020 when she became European champion in both the women’s canoe single and the women’s C1 teams aged 18.
Further European titles followed in 2024 and 2025 with the Czech team.
Over the course of her international stage, Satkova also claimed seven medals at the ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships, including four team golds with two of those coming in 2025,. One of the highlights of her career came in 2024 when she represented Czechia at the Olympic Games in Paris. Competing in the women’s C1, Satkova finished seventh.
“I have the energy, the desire, and the curiosity to try something new. Sport has taught me discipline, hard work and that things have their time. Now I feel that my racing career has come to an end,” Satkova told the Czech Canoe Union.
Along with her success at senior level, Satkova also achieved a large collection of junior and U23 titles, underlining her burgeoning talent.
After committing much of her life to the sport, Satkova is searching for a new purpose, “Slalom will always be an important part of my life. It will just no longer be the main thing that everything revolves around”.
As she turns the page on her racing career, Satkova does so with a record she can be proud of and a new chapter waiting beyond the start gate.
Satkova’s coach Ondřej Cvikl said: “Gabca has had a great career, and I am very happy that I was able to spend the last four seasons with her and experience a lot of success with her during that time.
“Of course, it may seem that she ended early, but since she started to collect great successes in her junior years, she experienced an awful lot by the water.
“I know that this decision was not easy for her and it was not overnight. I felt that she would want to be successful outside of our sports world. I wish her success and happiness in the next stage of her life."
