Home favourite Cecilia Panato underlined her canoe dominance with four gold medals at the European Canoe Association Wildwater Canoeing European Championships in Mezzana, Italy.
Panato won the women’s canoe single titles in both sprint and classic and teamed up with her sister Alice Panato to triumph in the women’s canoe double in both categories again.
The daughter of legendary Vladi Panato, who is also the organiser of this year’s European Championships, was responsible for all of Italy’s four gold medals in Mezzana.
The first of those came in the women’s C1 classic when she defended her title in 12:54.64, beating Czechia’s Anna Retkova who posted a time of 13:12.68 for silver.
Bronze went to France’s Laura Fontaine in 13:13.57.
"I was a bit nervous, because racing at home is great, but many people come to watch and cheer for you, which made me nervous,” said Cecilia Panato.
“But now that the race is over, it was good.
“I’m happy that I managed to win the European title at home.”
Panato grabbed her second gold of the day when she teamed up with Alice Panato to secure the women’s C2 crown.
They duo sealed victory in 12:57.40 as France’s Elsa Gaubert and Eve Vitali-Guilbert claimed silver in 13:25.62 and Great Britain’s Kerry Christie and Emma Christie finished in 13:29.76 for bronze.
After missing out on women’s kayak single sprint gold to France’s Laura Fontaine, Panato responded by winning the women’s C1 sprint title in 1:03.99.
Retkova claimed silver in 1:04.83, while Gaubert took bronze in 1:05.33.
In the women’s C2 sprint, the Panato sisters won gold with a margin of 1.46 seconds ahead of Slovakia’s Katarina Kopunova and Petra Soskova.
Third place went to Gaubert and Vitali-Guilbert of France.
While the Panato siblings delivered for hosts Italy, it was France that topped the overall standings with 23 medals, including seven golds, nine silvers and seven bronzes.
Among those gold medallists was Manon Hostens who emerged victorious in the women’s K1 classic in a time of 12:15.01.
Czechia’s Kristina Novosadova clinched silver in 12:26.77 as Italy’s Mathilde Serena Rosa picked up bronze in 12:28.96.
"This title means a lot to me, as it’s my very first European title in Wildwater Canoeing,” said Hostens.
“I'm especially proud to have won it on such a beautiful and technically demanding river.”
There was a French showdown in the men’s C1 classic as Theo Viens edged Nicolas Sauteur by a mere 0.23.
Viens took the win in 12:19.67 as Sauteur secured silver in 12:19.90 and Czechia’s Ondrej Rolenc clinched bronze in 12:20.46.
Simon Oven delivered men’s K1 classic gold for Slovenia after crossing the finish line first in 11:24.26.
Silver went to France’s Augustin Reboul in 11:26.26 as Belgium’s Leo Montulet bagged bronze in 11:27.33.
France won a clean sweep of medals in the men’s C2 classic with Sauteur and Viens triumphing in 12:05.97.
Manoel Roussin and Tanguy Roussin clinched silver in 12:11.89, while Correntin Combe and Clement Monjanel completed a French one-two-three with bronze in 12:25.38.
In the team sprint events, Czechia’s Klara Vankova, Retkova and Novosadova triumphed in the women’s K1, France’s Pierre Troubady, Sauteur and Charles Ferrion prevailed in the men’s C1, Slovenia’s Nejc Znidarcic, Anze Urankar and Oven combined to win men’s K1 gold, and the women’s C1 title was won by France’s Fontaine, Gaubert and Vitali-Guilbert.
There was more success for France in the men’s C1 classic team events as Viens, Sauteur and Ferrion took top honours.
Vankova, Retkova and Novosadova came together to win women’s K1 classic team gold, while Znidarcic, Urankar and Oven joined forces to capture the men’s K1 classic team title.
Fontaine secured the women’s K1 sprint title in a time of 1:00.97, beating Italy’s Cecilia Panato who clocked 1:01.18.
Bronze went to France’s Hostens who crossed in 1:01.47.
It was a French one-two in the men’s C1 sprint as Ferrion got the better of Sauteur by just 0.18.
Ferrion successfully defended his European title from 2023, crossing in 59.51, as Sauteur had to settle for silver in 59.69.
Czechia’s Rolenc came third in 1:00.01 in the same one-two-three order as the men’s C1 classic final.
Slovenia’s Znidarcic came out on top in the men’s K1 sprint, edging France’s Reboul by less than half a second.
A time of 55.14 secured victory for the 41-year-old great as Reboul finished his run in 55.63 for second spot.
It was the Slovenian’s fifth European sprint title following his success in 2009, 2013, 2015 and 2019.
Belgium’s Lean Bogaerts clocked 56.11 for bronze.
France achieved a clean sweep in the men’s C2 event, with victory going to Correntin Combe and Clement Monjanel, followed by Manoel Roussin and Tanguy Roussin in second, and Sauteur and Viens in third.
Photos by ECA
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