France soaked up success with two golds on the second day of the International Canoe Federation Wildwater Canoeing World Championships in Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Taking victory in both the men’s canoe classic team event as well as the men’s canoe double team, France put their pedigree on full display.
Italy struck gold for consecutive days, taking victory in the women’s kayak classic team event while Slovenia surged to the top to take control of the men’s kayak classic team event.
Click here for the start lists and live results from Banja Luka
In the men’s canoe classic team event, France emerged victorious as C2 champions Theo Viens and Nicolas Sauteur teamed up with Charles Ferrion.
The French trio posted a winning time of 17:23.44, edging out Germany by just 1.80 seconds in a thrilling finish.
“We feel great,” said Viens.
“We knew we were capable of finishing in the top three and were aiming for a medal, but you never know if you are going to win. Today we did.”
Czechia claimed bronze in 17:46.70.
Slovenia celebrated success in the men’s kayak classic team competition as Anze Urankar, Simon Oven, and Til Tjas Kupsch powered to gold in 15:56.70.
“It was a hard race, we knew we had to maintain the pace from yesterday,” said Oven.
“We knew it was going to be close, but we are very happy with the win.”
Kupsch said: “The first part of the race was really tough, there was a lot of waves and movement, but we are very pleased with the outcome.”
France secured silver in 16:00.78, while Belgium rounded out the podium with bronze in 16:06.44.
The Italian trio of Cecilia Panato, Maya Bagnato and Serena Mathilde Rosa delivered a standout performance, finishing first in 16:50.93.
The victory also marked Panato’s fourth gold of the competition.
Panato praised her teammates following the race.
“I was the last one, so I saw them and they [Bagnato and Rosa] were so good,
“A big congratulations to Maya [Bagnato] and I’m very happy for both of them, and we will now see what happens in the sprint.”
Bagnato said: “We are so happy with the gold medal today.
“The course was slightly higher than yesterday, and the first part was really wavy, but we stayed in control well. We are very happy.”
France later secured a second gold medal of the day in the men’s C2 team event, with the combinations of the Roussin brothers, Sauteur and Viens, and Combe and Monjanel powering to victory.
“It was a long race, but that allowed us to save some energy for the final section, and it worked well for us,” said Sauteur.
Czechia finished second in 17:30.92 while Great Britain climbed onto the podium to claim bronze in 17:56.36.
Join Planet Canoe's YouTube channel for €9.99 per month to unlock members-only content and features
Related links
