The 2026 Canoe Sprint and Paracanoe World Championships get under way on Wednesday (26 August) at the Malta Regatta Course in Poznan, Poland, and run through Sunday (30 August). Paris 2024 Olympic champion Martin Fuksa has won all five races he’s contested internationally this season , while Poland’s Anna Pulawska will look to defend two world titles on home water.
The championships mark the biggest week of the season, following World Cup stops in Szeged, Brandenburg and Montreal, as well as June’s European Championships in Montemor-o-Velho.
There’s more than a world title at stake in Poland, too.
Poznan counts towards the Olympic Ranking for Los Angeles 2028, a key route to securing quota places for the Games. The ranking window runs until the end of 2027. Only the 10 events on the LA28 programme carry points, and those points go to National Olympic Committees rather than to individual paddlers. Nothing is sealed this week, but it does add an extra layer of excitement to the races on the water.
Stars to watch at the 2026 Canoe Sprint World Championships
Fuksa, the Paris 2024 C1 1000m Olympic champion, is unbeaten in five international races this year — the C1 double at the European Championships, then the 1000m at all three World Cups. In Poznan, the 33-year-old races three events for the first time, adding the C2 500m with his brother Petr.
Pulawska will defend the K1 500m title and, alongside Martyna Klatt, the K2 500m crown they won at last year’s World Championships in Milan. Poland also have two other strong home hopes in Alex Borucki, 20, the European K1 500m champion, and Dorota Borowska, who is seeking her first world medal since 2021 in the C1 200m.
Ukraine’s Liudmyla Luzan will also be among the leading contenders after winning four world titles in Milan and adding four European golds in June. Eight-time Olympic champion Lisa Carrington isn’t racing, having stopped for the season on medical advice while expecting her first child.
read more: https://www.olympics.com/en/news/canoe-sprint-world-championships-2026-stars-schedule-watch
