Denmark’s Mads Brandt Pedersen and Ukraine’s Liudmyla Babak added another European crown to their glittering collections and Norway’s Anna Sletsjoee delivered a golden double as Pitesti-Bascov hosted the continent’s best marathon paddlers.
The Paddle Europe Marathon Championships saw Pedersen, Babak and Sletsjoee emerge victorious in front of the Romanian crowd.
Pedersen saw off Norway’s Jon Vold to clinch the men’s kayak single title in 2:07:15.95.
It was Pedersen’s fifth European title in the distance, adding to his victories in 2019, 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2026.
With this victory, Pedersen equalled Spaniard Manuel Busto in the number of European titles in this distance.
The Dane is also now two wins away from reaching Portuguese Jose Ramalho, who leads the men's marathon historical ranking with seven titles in the long distance.
For the first time, Denmark had two paddlers on the podium in the category as double European U23 champion Philip Knudsen secured the bronze.
It also wrapped up a double for Pedersen as he captured the men’s short race crown in 13:49.07.
Vold was second in 13:55.63 with Spain’s Adrian Martin finishing in 14:05.94 for bronze.
Ukrainian Babak, residing in Portugal, achieved the feat of winning the long-distance race for the seventh time in her career.
She triumphed in 1:21:08.85 as Moldova’s Daniela Cociu secured silver in 1:21:22.51 and Hungary’s Lili Matkovics bagged bronze in 1:21:46.63.
With this success, Babak is now just one victory away from reaching the Hungarian canoeing legend Renata Csay, who won eight individual titles (K1) in the long-distance race throughout her career.
The women’s C1 short race title was won by Moldova’s Cociu who topped the podium in 17:45.29.
Great Britain’s Bethany Gill earned silver in 17:59.82, with Zsofia Kisban of Hungary finishing in 18:08.53 for bronze.
Norway’s Sletsjoee had a European Championships to remember, winning two golds in Pitesti-Bascov.
Her first title came in the women’s K1 short race as she took top spot in 15:48.68, while Hungary’s Panna Csepe ranked second in 15:51.31 and Spain’s Miriam Vega claimed bronze in 16:04.60.
Sletsjoee completed her double in the women’s K1 long distance in 2:05:23.67.
Csepe claimed silver in 2:05:25.97, with Czechia’s Katerina Milova bagging bronze in 2:05:36.96.
There was delight for Spain in the men’s C1 short race as Jaime Duro retained his crown.
Duro triumphed in 15:44.06 as Portugal’s Rui Lacerda placed second in 15:58.94 and Moldova’s Mihai Chihaia secured bronze in 16:06.28.
Poland’s Mateusz Borgiel held off a Portuguese challenge to win men’s C1 long distance gold in 1:47:53.33.
Lacerda had to settle for second again with 1:48:51.08, while compatriot Ricardo Coelho sealed bronze in 1:48:52.28.
Borgiel added another gold when he teamed up with Mateusz Zuchora to secure the men’s canoe double crown in 1:23:26.78.
Portuguese pair Lacerda and Coelho earned silver in 1:23:33.12 and Spain’s Duro and Manuel Garrido clinched bronze in 1:26:09.02.
There was a Ukrainian one-two in the women’s C2 final.
Olena Tsyhankova and Valeriia Tereta struck gold in 1:15:40.09, beating Anastasiia Dezhytska and Babak who finished in 1:15:59.69 for silver.
The bronze medal went to Hungary’s Kisban and Zagyvai Borka in 1:16:05.50.
Spain’s Vega and Alba Esteban edged Hungary’s Panna Sinko and Csepe by 0.07 to clinch the women’s kayak double title.
The Spaniards finished in 1:41:15.05 as Sinko and Csepe came second in 1:41:22.80 and fellow Hungarians Janka Reisz and Zsofia Tokai picked up bronze in 1:42:15.56.
The final event of the European Championships saw Adrian Boros and Tama Erdelyi deliver gold for Hungary in the men’s K2 after finishing in 1:31:55.59.
Spain’s Joaquin Iglesias and Adrian Martin crossed the line in 1:31:56.46 for silver, while Portugal’s Ramalho and Alfredo Faria clinched bronze in 1:31:56.90.
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