Competitions

Fourteen European Championships, 11 venues, 42 days of competition and more than 3,000 different athletes. From extraordinary individual achievements to historic breakthroughs and closely contested national rivalries, 2026 was a remarkable year for Paddle Europe.

The first Special Olympics European Kayaking Competition brought athletes from nine countries together at Lake Kournas, in Crete, Greece, for a celebration of sport, friendship and inclusion, with Paddle Europe represented by its CEO, Jovana Stanojević.

The first three days of the 2026 ICF Canoe Marathon World Championships in Gualeguaychú, Argentina, have already produced remarkable stories for European canoeing, including a historic first world title for Slovakia, extraordinary golden doubles and a third consecutive world crown for Hungary's Mihaly Pluzsik.

Young athletes from Azerbaijan and Czechia benefited from a dedicated technical training programme in Mingachevir, combining expert coaching, performance analysis and international competitio