Speed canoeist Martin Fuksa, pictured on September 13, 2022.
Krakow – Canoeist Martin Fuksa is European champion for the twelfth time. At the European Games in Krakow today, he won gold in the non-Olympic 500m, which he won for the ninth time at the continental championship. The Czech expedition has four medals in Poland, two of which are gold.
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The 30-year-old Fuksa started cautiously in the final, he was fourth in the middle of the track, but then his black boat moved unstoppably to the front. He won with a safe margin of almost nine-tenths of a second ahead of Catalin Chirila from Romania, the bronze went to Moldovan canoeist Serghei Tarnovschi.
Since 2013, Fuksa has not lost in the 500m at the European Championships, if he has competed in it. In Krakow, he defended last year's gold from Munich. He has a total of sixteen medals from the European Championships, and is also a two-time world champion.
Kayaker Jakub Špicar finished fifth in the final of the 500m course, losing half a second to bronze. Kayaker Anežka Paloudová finished seventh, as did canoeist Martina Malíková. Antonín Hrabal and Denisa Řáhová will compete for medals in the 200m in the afternoon.
