Slovenia’s Anze Urankar and France’s Laura Fontaine captured their fourth consecutive global sprint titles at the International Canoe Federation Wildwater Canoeing World Championships in Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Urankar powered to victory in the men’s kayak, while Fontaine reigned supreme in the women’s canoe.
There were also two individual sprint world titles for Czechia as Matej Vanek defended his men’s C1 crown in impressive fashion and Kristina Novosadova achieved a massive feat, with success in the women’s K1.
Click here for the start lists and live results from Banja Luka
Corentin Combe and Clement Monjanel earned gold for France in the men’s canoe double, as sisters Cecilia Panato and Alice Panato secured a narrow victory in the women’s C2 final.
In the team events, Slovenian trios sealed victory in the women’s K1 and men’s K1.
French teams triumphed in the men’s C1 and C2 teams' events, while Czechia clinched gold in the women’s C1 team.
Dramatic scenes unfolded in the women’s K1 final as Novosadova, the last athlete down the course, surged to victory in 58.50 seconds.
“It feels incredible [to win],” said Novosadova.
“I wanted a medal in the classic race, which I got, and I wanted to be in a final in sprint.
“This feels, wow, amazing – it was a great run.”
Germany’s Luisa Puttkammer secured silver in 58.64, while Italy’s Cecilia Panato captured her fifth medal of the tournament in 58.94 to conclude the podium places.
There was more success for Czechia, as Vanek stormed to victory in 56.34 in the men’s C1 final.
“It was a great race, I am very happy with the result,” said Vanek.
Slovakia’s Jaromir Ivanecky took second in 57.44 while France’s Charles Ferrion rounded off the podium in 58.10.
In the men’s K1 final, Urankar secured his fourth consecutive world title, with a time of 53.08.
“It was a bit of a tricky race, I was very nervous,” said Urankar, following his impressive victory.
“But now I’m four-time world champion so I am very happy.”
Vojtech Matejicek of Czechia took silver in 53.43, as France’s Maxence Barouh won bronze in 53.49.
Fontaine successfully retained her title, capturing gold in the women’s C1 after finishing in 1:02.04.
“The course was hard, so I’m happy I managed it well,” she said.
“I was hoping to claim a medal in this race, but this sport is unpredictable, so I’m very happy with the victory."
Panato secured silver in 1:02.28, with Czechia’s Marie Nemcova adding her own contribution to her nation’s racing success with bronze in 1:02.58.
There was a French cleansweep in the men’s C2, as Combe and Monjanel led the charge for glory, finishing in 57.43.
“We are very happy, but we had a big, big mistake,” said Combe.
“But we managed to do the job in the end.”
They were joined on the podium by compatriots Nicolas Sauteur and Theo Viens in 57.56, and brothers Manoel Roussin and Tanguy Roussin in 58.01.
It was the battle of the sisters in the women’s C2, as 0.01 seconds separated gold and silver.
Cecilia Panato bagged her fifth gold in style alongside sister Alice Panato in 1:02.23.
“It’s an amazing feeling [to win alongside her sister],” said Cecilia Panato.
“She didn’t have a great run in C1 [Alice], so I’m happy that we managed to do one more race.
“It’s unbelievable to have won six medals at this competition.”
French siblings Clara Gaubert and Elsa Gaubert agonisingly missed out on glory as they picked up silver in 1:02.24.
Czechia saw their fifth medal of the day achieved by Pavla Jilkova and Magdalena Mala, as the pair collected bronze in 1:03.84.
Slovenia proved prominent as they powered to victory in the women’s K1 teams, finishing in 1:01.19.
The trio of Ana Steblaj, Hana Bedernjak, and Masa Simoncic defeated French and Czech teams in the final.
The French team consisting of Sauteur, Viens, and Ferrion added another medal to their growing tally, securing gold in the men’s C1 team.
Finishing in 1:00.75, they triumphed over strong German and Italian trios who took silver and bronze, respectively.
In the men’s K1 team, Slovenia mirrored the women’s success as Nejc Znidarcic, Urankar, and Simon Oven captured gold.
In mirroring fashion, France claimed silver while Czechia settled for bronze.
Czechia’s Anna Retkova, Pavla Jilkova, and Mala secured gold in the women’s C1 teams in 1:08.42, ahead of French and British trios.
France claimed the final gold of the competition, securing the men’s C2 teams crown in 58.84.
The Roussin brothers, Sauteur and Veins, and Combe and Monjanel snatched victory from Great Britain who took silver – their first podium place of the event.
Czechia completed the podium with bronze.
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