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Russia’s Petrov wins gold at 2025 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championship in Italy

Martin Fuksa from the Czech Republic coined the silver, and the bronze went to Moldova’s Sergey Tarnovsky

ROME, August 22. /TASS/. Russian canoeist Zakhar Petrov won the gold in the 500-meter event at the 2025 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championship in Italy’s Milan.

The Russian, who is participating under a neutral status at the tournament, clocked the distance in 1 minute 46.27 seconds to grab the gold.

Martin Fuksa from the Czech Republic won the silver with a time of 1 minute 46.71 seconds and the bronze went to Moldova’s Sergey Tarnovsky (1 minute 47.38 seconds).

Petrov, 23, is now a four-time ICF World Champion. He finished fourth at the 2024 Summer Olympics in France (both in single and double-canoe competitions).

The 2025 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships take place from August 20-24 in Milan, Italy. Athletes from Russia and Belarus participate in the tournament under a neutral status.

ICF’s sanctions against Russia

On February 28, 2022, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) issued recommendations to international sports federations to bar athletes from Russia and Belarus from taking part in international tournaments, citing Moscow’s special military operation in Ukraine as the reason.

Following the IOC’s recommendations in late February 2022, the majority of global sports federations decided to bar athletes from Russia and Belarus from all international sports tournaments.

On March 1, 2022, the International Canoe Federation (ICF) suspended athletes representing Russia and Belarus indefinitely from international competition citing developments in Ukraine.

In late March, 2023, the IOC recommended to permit individual athletes from Russia and Belarus to take part in international sports tournaments, but only under certain conditions.

Specifically, athletes from the two countries should not be "actively supporting" Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine and must compete under a neutral status. Russia and Belarus were also banned from participating in international team events.

On January 17, 2025, the RCSF announced that Russia had been granted the right to compete internationally in canoe slalom events under a neutral status.

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