Àngels Moreno wins bronze in the C2 500 at the 2nd Sprint World Cup

Spain concluded its participation in the II Sprint World Cup, held in Brandenburg, with a total of six medals: one gold, four silvers and one bronze. The national team once again showed its excellent international form, especially in canoeing, the discipline in which five of the six medals won over the weekend were achieved.

The competition began bringing good news for the Spanish team from the very first finals. The women’s K4 500, formed by Sara Ouzande, Lucía Val, Daniela García and Bárbara Pardo, confirmed that last season’s success was no coincidence. The Spanish boat returned to the podium with a silver medal after posting a time of 01:33.95 in a very tight final against China, who once again prevailed in the final metres.

In the men’s C1 200, Pablo Graña also showed that the event remains in safe hands for Spain. The Galician paddler improved on the result he had achieved a week earlier at the I World Cup and claimed silver with a time of 00:38.63.

The celebrations continued with bronze for Àngels Moreno, from Reial Club Nàutic de Pollença, and Viktoria Yarchevska in the women’s C2 500. The duo returned to the international podium and confirmed that the level they showed last season has carried into the start of 2026.

The competition ended with two more medals for Spain. The standout result was gold for Daniel Grijalba and Adrián Sieiro in the men’s C2 500. In a very close final, in which Manuel Fontán and Diego Domínguez also fought for the podium before eventually finishing fourth, Grijalba and Sieiro prevailed in the final metres to become World Cup champions.

“We are World Cup champions, for me, this is a dream,” said Daniel Grijalba after the medal ceremony, celebrating a historic gold both for him, as it was his first victory in a senior competition, and for Sieiro, who reached the top step of the podium in a C2 for the first time.

Spain’s final medal came in the afternoon, in the 5000-metre race with portages. Jaime Duro once again competed head-to-head with the world’s best specialists and took silver in the C1 5000. The paddler from Pontevedra therefore closes two weeks of competition with a World Cup title and runner-up finish in the same event.

These results were joined by the C4 500 silver medal, completing an outstanding performance for the national team. In total, Spain’s medals in Brandenburg were the gold for Grijalba and Sieiro in C2 500; silvers for the women’s K4, Pablo Graña in C1 200, the C4 500 and Jaime Duro in C1 5000; and bronze for Àngels Moreno and Viktoria Yarchevska in C2 500.

Beyond the medals, the Spanish team achieved numerous strong results. Laia Pèlachs was fifth in K1 1000, Pablo Crespo sixth in C1 1000, Claudia Couto and María Corbera eighth in C2 500 and David González Mella fifth in VL1 200. In Sunday’s finals, Viktoria Yarchevska finished fourth in C1 200, followed by Antía Jácome in fifth; Álex Graneri, from Real Club Náutico de Palma, was seventh in K1 500; Adrián del Río and Rodrigo Germade finished eighth in K2 500; Nerea García and Carolina García were seventh in K2 500; and Sara Ouzande ended ninth in K1 200.

In the 5000-metre events, in addition to Duro’s silver, María Martín finished sixth in C1, while Estefanía Fernández was tenth and Begoña Lazcano twelfth in kayak. In the men’s K1, Adrián Martín earned a commendable fifth place and Javi López finished ninth.

There were also good results in the B and C finals. Marcus Cooper, from Reial Club Nàutic de Porto Petro, won the C Final of the K1 500, Bárbara Pardo and Lucía Val won the B Final of the K2 500, and Carlos García and Kike Adán finished fourth in the B Final of the K2 500.

In Paracanoe, highlights included Carlota Blanca’s fifth place in VL2 200, Inés Felipe’s ninth place in the same event and Juan Antonio Valle’s sixth place in KL3 200. In the B finals, José Javier Piñeiro was fourth and Ricardo Junquera seventh in KL2 200, Nicolás Martínez finished third in KL3 200 and María Jiménez took victory in KL3 200.

With this overall result, Spain closes the II Sprint World Cup as one of the leading teams of the championship, with canoeing once again reaffirming that its excellent form is neither temporary nor accidental. The next international destination for Olympic Sprint and Paracanoe will be the European Championship, to be held from 11 to 14 June at the Portuguese course of Montemor-o-Velho.