Italian
At the Canoe Slalom World Championships, Giovanni De Gennaro wins a bronze medal in the men’s K1
OKLAHOMA CITY (UNITED STATES) – The first medal for Italy arrives at the World Canoe Slalom Championships taking place in Oklahoma City. It could only be won by the Olympic Champion of Paris 2024 Giovanni De Gennaro.
The canoeist from Roncadelle has indeed won bronze in the men’s K1, marking his second individual podium at the World Championships, after the silver won in Augsburg in 2022. All of this took place among the American rapids of the OKC Whitewater Center, the channel that will host the Olympic trials for the Los Angeles 2028 Games in two years.
The blue athlete finished ninth in the heats with 81.57 and 0 penalties and fifth in the semifinals (86.78 with 2 penalties). Once he secured a spot in the final with the top twelve, he took the lead with a time of 85.27 and no penalties, with four more canoeists still in play. In the end, he was surpassed by the Czech Jakub Krejci (gold in 83.65 with 0 penalties) and the Polish Michal Pasiut in 85.27
Xabier Ferrazzi stops instead in the semifinals due to a gate jump and a touch that sees him finish twenty-sixth.
The statements
These are the words of Giovanni De Gennaro at the end of the race: “It was a strange race, I couldn’t tell if I was fast or not but in the final part I managed to maintain a good pace. I’m satisfied with how the season is going and I’m proud to have won this medal at the World Championships in a very competitive race.”
The program
On Friday the 24th, it’s the turn of the Canadians: semifinals start at 5 PM and the green light for the finals at 9 PM. It concludes on Saturday, July 25th with the kayak cross. At 5 PM Italian time, the repechages begin, while the heats start at 8:30 PM, concluding with the two finals after 11 PM.
TV and streaming live
The canoe slalom finals and the kayak cross will be broadcast live on Rai Sport (channel 58 of digital terrestrial) and streamed on Raiplay with commentary by Silvano Ploner and technical commentary by Omar Raiba. Below are the complete schedules for the live broadcast on Rai Sport.
- July 24: 21:00–22:50
- July 25: 10:00 PM–12:00 AM
The entire competition is available for streaming on the YouTube channel of the International Canoe Federation, by subscribing to a mini-subscription (valid for one month) for € 9.99. Read how to do it by clicking HERE
Updates and Results
The complete results of the competitions are available BY CLICKING HERE. The weekend is also covered by updates on the federation’s social media FACEBOOK and INSTAGRAM.
Photo Romain Bruneau/FICK
