Montemor-o-Velho, Portugal is ready to stage the Paddle Europe Sprint Championships – just months after it was devastated by flood damage.
In February, severe storms hit Montemor-o-Velho leading to the flooding of the town’s High Performance Centre and leaving organisers facing a major recovery efforts.
Significant work was required to restore the venue and ensure it was ready to welcome Europe’s finest athletes.
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Watch live coverage from Montemor
After months of demanding months of dedication, planning and cooperation between local authorities, organisers and partners, High Performance Centre is poised to hold the European Championships.
Almost 600 athletes from 39 European countries have arrived in Portugal, including numerous Olympic and Paralympic medallists as well as medal winners from World and European Championships.
The 2026 edition carries added significance as paddlers will have the chance to earn Olympic and Paralympic Ranking points for their nations towards Los Angeles 2028.
Portugal will be represented by 31 athletes in Canoe Sprint and Paracanoe.
Among those will be Fernando Pimenta who will be out to defend his men’s K1 1000m and men’s K1 5000m titles.
Portugal are also the reigning European champions in the men’s K4 500m with Gustavo Goncalves, Joao Ribeiro, Messias Baptista and Pedro Casinha poised to fight for the title again.
The start line-up will include experienced and well-established athletes, as well as new names who are already making an impression.
Other defending champions in the field including Romania’s Catalin Chirila who edged Olympic gold medallist Martin Fuksa of Czechia in the men’s C1 1000m last year. Italy’s C2 pair Gabriele Casadei and Carlo Tacchini and Germany’s K2 stars Jabob Schopf and Max Lemke.
There is also a strong women’s startlist including Ukraine’s Liudmyla Luzan, Hungary’s Zsofia Csorba and Zsoka Csikos, Poland’s Anna Pulawska and Martyna Klatt and Spain’s Angels Moreno and Viktoriia Yarchevska.
The lineup in the Paracanoe competition is equally impressive.
After recovering from injury, Great Britain’s Emma Wiggs has successfully returned this year and comes into a very strong team that also includes Charlotte Henshaw, Jack Eyers, and Stuart Wood.
Georgia will be represented by Serhii Yemelianov, the French team once again features Nelia Barbosa, Abel Aber, and Rémy Boulle, Hungary fields Péter Kiss, Erik Kiss, and Katalin Varga, while Poland’s Katarzyna Sobczak, Ukraine’s Mykola Syniuk and Vladyslav Yepifanov, Austria’s Marcus Swoboda, and Spain’s Higinio Rivero will also be at the start, among many others.
Thursday brings all heats in Canoe Sprint and Paracanoe, followed by semifinals on Friday, while finals will take place on Saturday and Sunday.
Full coverage of the Paddle Europe Sprint Championships can be viewed on the Planet Canoe YouTube channel.
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