Second bronze for Mallorcan Álex Graneri at the Milan World Championship

The final day of the Sprint and Paracanoe World Championships, held at Parco Idroscalo in Milan, was the perfect capstone to Spain’s outstanding performance over five days of competition. While Spanish paddlers had already won a total of six medals in the previous two days, two more were added on the final day.

If Duisburg 2023 was Spain’s best-ever result with 13 medals, the eight medals from this championship match the tally achieved in 2022 in Halifax, although in Canada Spain led the medal table thanks to four golds.

Among the eight medals, Álex Graneri, from the Real Club Náutico de Palma, stood out, winning bronze in K1 500, adding to the bronze he had previously won in K4.

Spain leaves Milan with 1 gold, 3 silvers, and 4 bronzes. In addition, across the 10 Olympic events, Spanish paddlers reached nine A finals, only missing out in the women’s K1 500 (B final), and claimed medals in three of those finals (men’s K4 500 gold, women’s K4 500 bronze, and C2 500 bronze).

On Sunday, Spain entered the day with 11 potential medalists. The first was Victoriia Yarchevska in C1 200. Racing in extremely adverse weather, with torrential rain throughout the morning, the AD Pinatarense paddler finished fifth (47.10) in a final won by Ukraine’s Liudmyla Luzan (46.09), who took her third gold of the championship and confirmed her dominance. Second was Cuban Cirilo Duboys and third was Russian Shiliapnikova.

Yarchevska reflected on the challenge: “It was a tough race with weather not in our favor, but I did everything I could. For my first year in a senior championship, I think it’s very good. I’m happy with the result and it motivates me for the future.”

The morning medal came from Álex Graneri, who had already claimed bronze with the K4 on Friday, August 22. He returned to the podium in K1 500 (1:39.05) after a race dominated by Czech Dostal (1:38.43), followed by Hungarian Varga (1:38.52). Graneri was ecstatic: “I’m overjoyed. We couldn’t have ended the season better, after so much sacrifice and new experiences in Asturias. We’re on the right path. I want to thank everyone, family, friends, coach, technical team, this is just the beginning of a story.”

There were also podium hopes in the C2 500 final. The duo Joan Antoni Moreno, from the Reial Club Nàutic del Port de Pollença, and Diego Domínguez won their heat and hoped to reward the Spanish supporters. “We’re happy because we gave everything, but the cold affected our muscles. Still, we’re proud of our season; besides this fifth place, we won gold in the World Cup,” said Domínguez after finishing fifth (1:41.38). The win went to Russia (1:39.63), silver to China (1:40.60), and bronze to Hungary (1:40.74). Moreno added: “It wasn’t our day; we’re not used to the cold. Still, we fought, were ambitious, and we can be proud of this result in a post-Olympic year, which is always challenging.”

In the K2 500 finals, no medals were possible either. In the men’s race, Quique Adán and Carlos García finished seventh (1:30.82), with Hungary taking gold (1:28.28). In the women’s race, Estefanía Fernández and Begoña Lazcano placed ninth (1:45.05), with medals going to Poland (1:41.34), Australia (1:41.92), and Germany (1:43.19).

Spain narrowly missed the podium in the C4 500, where Claudia Couto, Valeria Oliveira, Ana Cantero, and María Corbera finished fourth. Corbera said: “We’re very happy. It was a super tough final, weather-wise and effort-wise, but with my three teammates and their energy, I feel inspired day by day, paddle by paddle.” Gold went to Hungary (1:46.43), silver to Belarus (1:47.48), and bronze to China (1:47.50), leaving Spain 3.42 seconds behind.

The second medal of the day came in men’s C1 5000. Jaime Duro fought an intense race, sticking with Moldovan Tarnovschi throughout, and ultimately claimed silver. “It was a very tough race with five portages, but incredible. My first medal in a Sprint World Championship, and I’m thrilled. Now I head to the Marathon Worlds to compete in two events,” he said.

Other 5000m races didn’t yield medals: Ana Cantero (C1) finished tenth, Pedro Vázquez (K1 men) eleventh, and Estefanía Fernández (K1 women) fourth, amid controversy as the Norwegian third-place finisher missed a course buoy without penalty.

In the Paracanoe finals, Inés Felipe finished eighth in VL2 200, while Juan Antonio Valle, in the KL3 200 B final, finished second.