Canoe Slalom paddlers eager to make the European Games debut
Only a couple of hours are left until the beginning of the Canoe Slalom competitions at the European Games Kraków-Małopolska 2023 this Thursday. This will be a debut for the sport at the European Games. The races in Kolna Sports Centre will kick off on Thursday, 29 June, at 9:35. A little less than 200 athletes from 29 countries will be fighting for the European Games medals over four competition days.
Everything is set in Kolna Sports Centre for the first ever Canoe Slalom competitions at the European Games. It is expected the competition will be very intense and exciting. Not only will the athletes fight for the European Games glory, the competitions will also count as the European Championships and European Continental Olympic Qualifiers for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
As the European Games carry such an importance all the teams came to Vistula River with their top athletes, which promises an excellent competition weekend. The start lists feature Olympic, world and European champions, medallists of the World Cup races as well as medallists of Junior and U23 Championships.
On Thursday, the competitions will start with men’s and women’s kayak heats, followed by the team events in these two categories. The team events will be the first Canoe Slalom medals events at the European Games Krakow-Malopolska 2023.
On Friday, men’s and women’s canoe heats are on the programme in the morning, and in the afternoon (starting at 13:35) the men’s and women’s canoe team events will follow where again two sets of medals will be awarded to the best teams.
The first medals in individual events will be awarded on Saturday, when men’s and women’s kayak semi-finals and finals are on the programme. In the afternoon, the kayak cross time-trials are on the programme, and on Sunday the Canoe Slalom competitions in Kolna Sports Centre will come to an end with men’s and women’s canoe semi-finals and finals and kayak cross final stages.
The complete competition schedule and results can be found here.
European Games Krakow-Malopolska 2023 is the Europe’s biggest multidisciplinary sporting event in 2023. More than 7 thousand athletes are competing in 26 sports and 29 disciplines for 253 gold medals. More than that, European Games 2023 are part of the qualification process for the Olympic Games in Paris 2024 in 19 sports. This great celebration of sports starts with opening ceremony in Krakow on 21st of June. The closing ceremony will take place on July 2nd.
