Club Marítimo de Mahón Paddler Alma Rabinerson Just Misses the Podium at the European Championships

The paddler from Club Marítimo de Mahón, Alma Rabinerson, finished fourth in the final of the K2 500 meters, an Olympic distance, together with Uxue Arsuaga, just 667 thousandths of a second away from a medal.

Rarely has a medal been so close and yet so far. Alma Rabinerson, competing with the Spanish national team, narrowly missed out on a bronze medal at the U23 European Championships held in Romania on Sunday, July 6. Partnered with Uxue Arsuaga, they led the first stretch of the 500-meter K2 final but couldn’t maintain the pace, ultimately conceding victory to the German duo, followed by Slovakia and Hungary.

Alma’s campaign in Romania began in the best possible way on Thursday, July 3, by qualifying directly for the final of the European Championships with the fourth best time in this Olympic event. This result allowed her to skip Friday’s races and rest until Sunday’s final.

In the final, the paddler from Mahón and her partner had a strong start, even leading the race at one point, but were overtaken in the final meters in what turned out to be a tight sprint finish for third place — with the gold medal just 2 seconds away.

Alma will compete again with the Spanish national team in the same event and with the same teammate from July 24 to 27 at the World Championships in Portugal.

Thanks to an initiative from Alma’s fellow athletes at the Club Marítimo de Mahón, around 50 people gathered at the club to watch the final and cheer on the international paddler in her valiant fight for the medals.