Ivrea and its stadium on the Dora, a particular canal with characteristics that make it unique

«Thanks to the presence of the Naviglio – explains Giuseppe d’Angelo, former Olympian and treasurer of the Ivrea canoa club – we can always guarantee the correct water flow. In recent days, many delegations have flocked here who had planned to train in Tacen, Slovenia, where, however, the water level of the Sava is insufficient.

IVREA. A real flagship: the competition channel in the center of the Ivrea canoe stadium is internationally recognized as one of the most demanding, technical and evocative facilities, thanks also to its urban location, unique among the facilities dedicated to slalom descent. . But the location is not the only prerogative that makes Ivrea special: the Ivrea canal, in fact, unlike the others, never suffers from water shortages, even in periods of drought such as the one we are crossing.

«Thanks to the presence of the Naviglio – explains Giuseppe d’Angelo, former Olympian and treasurer of the Ivrea canoa club – we can always guarantee the correct water flow. In recent days, many delegations have flocked here who had planned to train in Tacen, Slovenia, where however the water level of the Sava is insufficient ». Today the canal is a consolidated reality that places Ivrea at the top of the location for the “rough water” competitions, but until about eighty years ago the Dora was considered unsuitable for navigation. To refute this theory was Giulio Valzolgher, fully considered the father of the Ivrea canoe, who involved some Olivettian colleagues, demonstrating that you could paddle on the cerulean river. National and international races have been held on the Dora for more than fifty years, but a milestone is represented by the 2007 World Cup event, the first to be hosted in Ivrea. It was on that occasion that the Ivrea canoe began to think big and so we reached 2015 when the plant was deemed suitable for major world events and Ivrea was awarded the first slalom canoe World Cup test. 2016, for which some more changes were made, entrusted to Whitewater park international, an American company that also designed the Olympic canals of Sydney, London and Rio.

The dreams, however, do not stop there: the next goal is to host the absolute world championship, after two editions of the youth one. With this in mind, it would be essential to create the structure that would make Ivrea the absolute top of the facilities: the grandstand overlooking the right bank of the canal, which would allow spectators to watch the evolutions of the athletes while sitting 3 or 4 meters from them. While waiting, the athletes “settle” for being a stone’s throw from ice cream parlors, restaurants, pizzerias and the city center, more unique Ivrea.