Britain’s Mallory Franklin has been crowned European champion for the third time in her remarkable career, producing a superb performance to take gold at the 2026 Paddle Europe Slalom Championships in Italy.
The 32-year-old secured the women’s C1 title in Ivrea on Friday, September 25, with a flawless final run of 100.47 seconds, beating France’s Doriane Delassus by the narrowest of margins.
Just three hundredths of a second separated gold and silver.
Franklin delivered a clean run when it mattered most, with Delassus stopping the clock at 100.50 seconds. Reigning world champion Tereza Kneblova, of the Czech Republic, took bronze in 100.93 seconds.
It meant less than half a second separated all three women on the European Championship podium.
For Franklin, however, the victory means considerably more than another medal.
The Olympic silver medallist has been making her way back into elite international competition following the birth of her daughter, Maia, in 2025.
This is her first individual medal since returning from pregnancy, and caps a remarkable comeback season for one of Britain’s most decorated canoe slalom athletes.
Franklin said: “It’s a really nice way to end the year. It’s been a tough one coming back and getting back on the start line.”
She added that she had been building throughout the season and described becoming European champion again as “a nice way to finish it”.
A champion’s response
The gold was made even more impressive by what had happened only hours earlier.
Franklin had suffered disappointment in the women’s K1 competition, missing out on the final.
But rather than allowing that setback to define her day, the British star returned to the water for the C1 competition and produced a championship-winning performance.
She qualified fifth fastest for the C1 final with a clean time of 103.58 seconds, before finding another level when the European title was on the line.
Her final run was more than three seconds faster, and completely penalty-free.
It was enough, by 0.03 seconds, to put Britain on top of the podium.
Another chapter in an extraordinary British career
The victory gives Franklin her third individual European C1 title, following previous triumphs including her second title in Slovakia in 2022.
She is already one of the outstanding figures in British canoeing.
Franklin made history at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, winning silver when women’s C1 canoe slalom was contested at the Games for the first time. She later won her second individual C1 world title on home water at Lee Valley in 2023.
Paddle UK describes Franklin as Great Britain and Northern Ireland’s most successful female slalom paddler.
Her return to the European summit therefore represents another remarkable chapter in a career which has already seen her compete and win at the highest levels of her sport.
And Franklin was already a medal winner in Ivrea before Friday’s individual triumph.
On Thursday, she joined Kimberley Woods and Ellis Miller to take bronze for Great Britain in the women’s C1 team event, the trio recording a time of 109.33 seconds behind France and host nation Italy.
Fellow Briton Woods also reached Friday’s individual C1 final, finishing eighth with a clean run of 105.60 seconds.
There were strong British performances elsewhere, with Olympic champion Joe Clarke finishing fifth in the men’s kayak final, while rising British star Sam Leaver took sixth.
The European Championships, staged at the demanding Ivrea Canoe Stadium, bring together many of the continent’s leading canoe slalom and kayak cross competitors and run from September 24 to 26.
But Friday belonged to Franklin.
After taking time away from international competition to have her daughter, the British Olympian returned to one of the toughest whitewater courses in Europe and proved she remains capable of beating the very best.
Three hundredths of a second decided it.
Mallory Franklin, European champion once again, and another gold for Great Britain.
Main Image: For illustration purposes.
