Montemor-o-Velho welcomed the first day of competition at the 2026 Paddle Europe Sprint, Paracanoe and Masters European Championships. Heats races were held in 17 events, and the leading contenders completed their opening assignments of the championship without difficulty.
Czech canoeist Martin Fuksa recorded the fastest qualifying times in both the 1000m and 500m events. Greece's Stefanos Dimopoulos was also among the frontrunners on both distances, posting the second-fastest time in the 1000m heats and the third-fastest in the 500m heats. Another Czech athlete, Josef Dostal, set the fastest qualifying time of the day in the men's K1 500 event.
It was also a strong qualifying day for Hungary. Hungarian crews recorded the fastest times in both prestigious K4 500 events, in both the men's and women's categories. Their athlete Gergely Balogh posted the fastest time of the day in the men's K1 200, while Anna Lucz topped the women's K1 200 heats.
Ukraine's Liudmyla Luzan signalled her intent for another successful championship by setting the fastest times of the day in both the women's C1 200 and C1 500 events, as well as in the women's C2 500, where she teamed up with Anastasiia Rybachok.
Germany's Pauline Jagsch was the fastest qualifier in the Olympic women's K1 500 event. The athletes who came closest to her time were Hungary's Zsoka Csikos and Slovenia's Mia Medved. However, despite finishing second in her qualifying heat and third overall, Medved narrowly missed out on direct qualification for the final. The same situation affected several other athletes who ranked among the fastest overall in the heats but will still have to compete in Friday's semifinals.
One crew that will definitely not need to race in the semifinals is Poland's Martyna Klatt and Anna Pulawska, who secured direct qualification to the women's K2 500 final with the fastest time of the day. In the men's K2 500, Slovakia's Samuel Balaz and Adam Botek recorded the quickest time. Belgium's Hermien Peters was the fastest paddler in the women's K1 1000 event.
Several Individual Neutral Athletes also posted the fastest times of the day: Uladzislau Kravets (AIN-B) in the men's K1 1000, Aliaksandr Zubok (AIN-B) in the men's C1 200, and Zakhar Petrov and Ivan Shtyl (AIN-A) in the men's C2 500.
Friday's programme features the semifinal races. Live streaming is available on the Planet Canoe YouTube channel.
12.6.2026
