Almost 1,000 paddlers from nearly 70 nations will line up in Montemor-o-Velho, Portugal for the International Canoe Federation Junior and U23 Canoe Sprint World Championships.
Races will take place from July 23 to 27 with 44 age-group world titles on offer in a jam-packed programme.
Olympic medallists Gabriele Casadei of Italy, Yarisleidis Cirilo Duboys of Cuba, and Pierre van der Westhuyzen of Australia will be among the 500-strong field competing in the U23 races.
For Casadei, this will be an opportunity to secure a further confidence-boosting victory ahead of a home ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships in Milan, Italy.
Click here for startlists and live results from Montemor-o-Velho
With less than one month to go until Milan plays host, Casadei will be eager to produce some strong performances.
Casadei made history last year when he and Carlo Tacchini became the first Italians to win an Olympic medal in Canoe Sprint since 1964 courtesy of their silver in the men’s canoe double 500m in Paris.
The 22-year-old will compete in the men’s C1 U23 500m and men’s C1 U23 1000m and will form part of the Italian quartet for the men’s canoe four U23 500m.
Cirilo Duboys is another star of Paris 2024 who will be looking to seal her place at the top of the podium.
The Cuban won the senior world title in the women’s C1 200m in 2023 before clinching Olympic bronze last year and will be among the favourites to triumph in this event in Montemor-o-Velho.
Van der Westhuyzen, who was a key member of the Australian team to win Olympic silver in the men’s kayak four 500m in Paris, will be looking to pick up another global title.
The 21-year-old will challenge for top spot in the men’s K1 U23 500m and the men’s K2 U23 500m along with Maguire Reid.
Many other athletes will arrive in Portugal high in confidence after impressing on the senior circuit.
Among those are Serbia’s Strahinja Dragosavljevic and Spain’s Viktoriia Yarchevska.
They both captured their first ICF Canoe Sprint World Cup titles in Szeged in May, with Dragosavljevic sharing the men’s K1 200m top spot with Portugal’s Messias Baptista and Yarchevska stunning reigning Olympic champion Katie Vincent of Canada to clinch women’s C1 200m gold.
Dragosavljevic and Yarchevska enjoyed further success at last month’s senior European Championships and will now seek to become U23 world champions.
Portugal has also fielded a strong team aiming to picking up gold medals across the junior and U23 events.
Around 400 athletes will participate in the 22 junior events where the likes of Germany, Hungary and China will seek to capture gold medals after success in Plovdiv last year.
Full coverage of the ICF Junior and U23 Canoe Sprint World Championships can be viewed on the Planet Canoe YouTube channel.
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