Canoa, the Eporediese Lucia Pistoni takes home the third gold for Italy

IVREA. Lucia Pistoni, a member of the Ivrea canoa club, is the number one junior kayak in the world. Her gold medal. The young athlete conquered the top step of the podium with a time of 94.14, ahead of Dominika Brzeska (Poland) and the German Paulina Pirro.

The morning had already seen Italy climb to the top of the world with Elena Borghi, who had brought home the third medal medal for Italy at the World Youth Canoe Championships, which are underway in the Canoe Stadium of Ivrea and which will end Sunday.

The athlete from Ferrara, born in 2002, under the Carabinieri sports group won the gold medal in the under 23 kayak category. , I was hoping for a lot but I didn’t think I could really do it. Today I started looking for the rhythm, then once I found it I let myself go and my mind was completely free, I knew what I had to do and keeping this state of mind I had a lot of fun. Winning at home, on this channel where I train and in front of the family and this enthusiastic audience adds an extra element of happiness ». The canoeist’s season will continue with senior commitments, starting as early as the next few weeks, when she will take part in the absolute World Championships in Augsburg, scheduled from 26 to 31 July

Borghi made a simply perfect descent, all the athletes who went down after her couldn’t even get close to her time: she finished in 95 ”24. Silver medal to the Czech Garbiela Satkova, reached 1 “66, third the Slovak Emanuela Luknarova, at 6” 96. Ninth in the final Carolina Massarenti.

For Elena Borghi it is the second medal, after the silver one won with teammates Carolina Massarenti and Marta Bertoncelli, won on Tuesday.

In the afternoon, emotion for Lucia Pistoni’s K1 Junior gold. In front of the audience in jubilation, the seventeen year old athlete from Ivrea Canoa Club, with 94.14 and with a course without penalties, won a race that, as evidenced by the gaps and the many mistakes made, put a strain on the other finalists. “Crazy! When I finished the race with the first time two athletes still had to go down. I realized that I was already on the podium anyway and I would have been happy already, the victory was then an overwhelming emotion, I couldn’t and still can’t believe it », she said.

In the other races of the day, Martino Barzon and Nicola Mengoli had won the MC1 Under23 final. Barzon, former Junior gold medalist at the 2021 World Championships in Tacen (Slovenia), finished fifth, with a time of 90.43 (+2.54), after a clean descent without penalty. Mengoli, on the other hand, closed in tenth position, with 97.94 (+10.05). In the MK1 Junior races in the afternoon, great hopes came from the passage to the final of all the three Italian athletes involved in the semifinals: Gabriele Grimandi, 17, of CC Bologna; Michele Giuseppe Pistoni, 15 years old, in force at Ivrea CC; Xabier Ferrazzi, 16, CanoaClub Kayak Valstagna. However, none of the three managed to secure a place on the podium.

“The first thing I have to say about the team is: long live the women,” said Luciano Buonfiglio, president of the Italian Canoe Kayak Federation, commenting on Saturday’s results. «Two golds won in this way, with some competitors who are used to competing also in the senior category, are truly amazing. Overall I am satisfied. We have never had a team as numerous and present in all categories and disciplines as this time. This means that the clubs are working hard, right from the base, and now our task is to trace together with the company technicians, and with the technical direction of Daniele Molmenti, a path that will lead all our athletes to excellence. The competitions of these days were organized in an excellent way and therefore I thank Claudio Roviera and Elena Garda, of the Organizing Committee, and the Ivrea Canoa Club. A warm thanks also goes to the city of Ivrea 01 for the exquisite welcome it always knows how to offer us ” .

On Sunday, the focus will shift to Extreme Slalom, a specialty that has recently become part of the Olympic program and which sees an explosion of participation right here in Ivrea, in these championships. “We will have 262 boats in the water, a number so far unimaginable and which represents a great organizational challenge – says Claudio Roviera, of the organizing committee – our attention and concentration must be at the highest level, also in consideration of the fact that this discipline provides for the
contact between the boats in the race. As organizers we are satisfied with the general performance of the
event, the ICF and above all the teams congratulate us for the setting up, for the welcome and for the quality of the event. ability to involve and motivate volunteers, towards the common goal that we are all pursuing together, namely the full success of this event ».