Europe’s best young canoe slalom paddlers ready to compete in Solkan (SLO)

Solkan (23/08/2016) – The emerald Soča River in Solkan, settlement in the City Municipality of Nova Gorica (SLO) which borders Italy, will host one of the last big canoe slalom events of the season 2016. The 2016 ECA Junior and U23 Canoe Slalom Championships will start this Wednesday (24 August) with an opening ceremony in Nova Gorica. The first races will follow on Thursday. Over 350 boats are expected to start in Slovenia this week.

Even though the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro have just concluded we will see in action some of the paddlers who have taken part in the biggest sporting event of the year. One of the main favourites in the men’s U23 kayak event will be undoubtedly reigning U23 World Champion Jakub Grigar (SVK) who finished fifth in Brazil, after being the leading man after the semifinal run. Despite being in great shape his task will not be easy. The competition will be hard and there are many athletes, who can deny him a top podium position, among them Mario Leitner (AUT) and Maciej Okreglak (POL) both Rio 2016 Olympians themselves, as well as his fellow World Championships medallists Zeno Ivaldi (ITA) and Andrej Malek (SVK).Men’s U23 kayak event will not be the only …

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