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Day two of the Canoe Sprint competition at the Kraków-Małopolska 2023 European Games ended in the same fashion as it started: with a lot of exciting races.

After the four medal events that were dominated by Ukrainian competitors who won two gold medals, the semifinal races in singles over 200 metres and the heats in the mixed events delivered the same amount of competitiveness.

In a very tight race in C1 Italian Mattia ALFONSI managed to win with only 0.028 seconds in front of Ilie SPRINCEAN (MDA), and 0.062 seconds in front of Helder SILVA (POR), to secure the place in the medal race. The C1 200 metres final is scheduled for Friday at 15:04.

The women’s C1 200 metres semifinal was equally nerve wrecking for the fans with Virag BALLA (HUN) coming in first with only 0.227 seconds in front of the Georgian Mariam KERDIKASHVILI. The remaining spot in the final which will take place on Friday at 15:13, was secured by the British paddler Isabel EVANS.

Serbian Milica NOVAKOVIC dominated her K1 200 metres semifinal with a clear and convincing win. Second place was won by Diana RYBAK (UKR), and Madara ALDINA (LAT) came in third. The women’s K1 200 metre final will take place on the third day of competition at 15:22.

The men’s K1 200 was equally as exciting as the morning heats with first six paddlers coming across the finish line in less than half a second. Oleksander ZAITSEV (UKR) won, in front of Badri KAVELASHVILI (GEO) and Gunnar EIDE (NOR). Men’s K1 200 final will take place on Friday at 15:31.

The second day of Canoe Sprint competition at Kryspinow Waterway was wrapped with heats in the mixed events over 200 metres.

From the heats in the mixed Canadian Double three crews won the right to compete for the medals. Hungarians Bianka NAGY and Adam FEKETE won their heat, in front of Mihai CHIAIA (MDA) and Maria OLARASU (MDA) and Antonin HRABAL (CZE) and Denisa RAHOVA (CZE).

The Spaniard Antia JACOME, who previously won the silver in C2 500 with Maria CORBERA (ESP) paired with Pablo GRANA to win their heat. The Polish paddler Aleksander KITEWSKI (who earlier won bronze in C2 500) together with Sylwia SZCZERBINSKA (POL) came in second place, with the German duo Nico PICKERT and Annika LOSKE taking the third direct spot in the final. The mixed Canoe Double final will take place on the final day of competition at 14:53.

The mixed K2 200 metre heats offered the direct placement in the final to winners only. The first to secure the spot in the medals race were Teresa PORTELA (POR) and Kevin SANTOS (POR) the reigning European K1 200 champion. The second heat was won by the Ukrainians Nataliia DOKIIENKO and Oleksandr ZAITSEV, with Katarzyna KOLODZIEJCZYK (POL) and Jakub STEPUN winning the third and final place in the final. The mixed K2 200 medal race will take place on Saturday at 14:44.

All results of the afternoon session of the second day of Canoe Sprint competition 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 started on 21st of June. The closing ceremony will take place on July 2nd.