Senoner still has a chance at the European Championship.

Canoe slalom European Championships: South Tyrolean goes home empty-handed

Lars Aaron Senoner from Merano, together with Riccardo Pontarollo and Dennis Fina, achieved Italy's best team race result, finishing fifth in the C1 team race for the U18 category.

August 06, 2026

From: do

On the second day of the European Canoe Slalom Championships in Épinal, France, Lars Aaron Senoner (17) of SC Meran/Raika-Torggler qualified for the semifinals in the morning, finishing 20th in both the K1 and C1 events, just as he had the previous day in the K1 event. He had previously finished tenth in the K1 qualifying round on Wednesday.

In the U18 C1 team event, the dream of a third consecutive medal in the team competition did not come true. After two second-place finishes at the U18 European Championships last year and the U18 World Championships this year, Lars Aaron Senoner, Riccardo Pontarollo, and Dennis Fina had to settle for fifth place in the artificial canal of Èpinal, which was nevertheless Italy's best result in the K1 and C1 team events for the U18 and U23 categories.

“I’m reasonably satisfied with my runs. I paddled relatively confidently in both the individual and team races and I’m already looking forward to the semi-finals in the U18 kayak single and canoe single races,” said Lars Aaron Senoner. “In the team competition, the three of us had the second-fastest time, but we incurred ten penalty seconds,” the Merano native complained.

Tomorrow in the K1 kayak and on Saturday in the C1 canoe, Lars Aaron Senoner, after finishing eighth in the K1 team race and fifth in the C1 team race, can fulfill his dream of reaching the final of the top twelve U18 paddlers in the individual races. Thirty athletes will compete in the semifinals in both boat classes, K1 and C1, and twelve of them will qualify for the final.

The results

Canoe single, Juniors (U18), Qualification: 1. Cyrian Menuat (France) 95,14 seconds/0 penalty seconds; 2. Dominik Rezabek (Czech Republic) 95,57/2; 3. Pascal Brandenburg (Germany) 97,53/2; 4. Riccardo Pontarollo 98,30/2; 11. Dennis Fina (both Italy) 100,75/4; 20. Lars Aaron Senoner (SC Meran/Raika-Torggler) 104,14/4.

Canoe single, Juniors (U18), Team run: 1. Czech Republic 110,07 seconds/2 penalty seconds; 2. Great Britain 115,14/4; 3. Germany 115,62/4; 5. Italy (Riccardo Pontarollo, Dennis Fina, Lars Aaron Senoner) 122,72/10.

The program by Lars Aaron Senoner:

Friday, 7th August 2026
10:04 AM – 11:04 AM: K1 Juniors, Semi-final with Lars Aaron Senoner (30 participants)
15:43 PM – 16:10 PM: K1 Juniors, Final possibly with Lars Aaron Senoner (12 participants)

Saturday, 8th August 2026
10:04 AM – 11:04 AM: C1 Juniors, Semi-final with Lars Aaron Senoner (30 participants)
15:31 PM – 15:58 PM: C1 Juniors, Final possibly with Lars Aaron Senoner (12 participants)