First strike for the national slalom canoe team at the World Championships in London. 

In the Lee Valley Olympic White Water Centre came a historic bronze medal in C1 for Paolo Ceccon (photo FICK), who also earned a card for the Paris 2024 Summer Games.

An extraordinary performance from the Italian, who went into the archives with tenth place in the semi-finals (101.22 with two penalties) guaranteeing a well-deserved ticket to the last act and, above all, one of the twelve Olympic quotas places available for each gender.

Later in the finals, the fine momentum of the Venetian did not subside, who, having taken the water course first, finished in 98.90 (zero penalties) behind Slovenia’s Benjamin Savsek (first with 97.40 and zero penalties) and Frenchman Nicolas Gestin (second with 98.58 and zero penalties). 

Also noteworthy among the women was the Olympic card for Marta Bertoncelli, who finished the semi-finals in 12th place (116.85 with zero penalties).

The Ferrara-born athlete, who had already been part of Italia Team in Japan’s Tokyo 2020 expedition, had failed to gain entry into the ten-strong final, having narrowly missed out by just two positions.