Meet the versatile paddler who will race in THIRD World Championships in 2024

Versatile paddler Anze Urankar will add another string to his bow when he competes at the International Canoe Federation Canoe Ocean Racing World Championships. Urankar is a Youth Olympic Games gold medallist in Canoe Slalom, a multiple world champion in Wildwater Canoeing and now a participant on the global stage in both Canoe Sprint and Canoe Ocean Racing. His participation on the island of Madeira this weekend will put him in a unique position having raced in World Championships in three different disciplines this year. Urankar represented Slovenia at both the ICF Wildwater Canoeing World Championships in Sabero, Spain and the ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships in Samarkand, Uzbekistan in a busy August and will now make his debut at the ICF Canoe Ocean Racing World Championships. He even participated at last month’s ICF Canoe Marathon World Championships in Metkovic, Croatia, albeit as a coach. “I will have to do Canoe Polo next,” said Urankar. “I am joking but I really think it is good to do all the disciplines and take the most out of each of them. “You have to enjoy it as well and not just focus on results.” Canoe Slalom was the discipline where Urankar’s paddling journey began after getting into a kayak for the first time at the age of nine. A post shared by Anže Urankar (@anzeurankar7) Urankar showcased his qualities on the Youth Olympic stage when he triumphed in the men’s obstacle Canoe Slalom kayak single at Nanjing 2014. That day, Urankar overcame Slovakia’s Jakub Grigar – a man who has since won Olympic silver at Tokyo 2020 – but the Slovenian opted not to take the same Canoe Slalom path. “In Slovenia, we all start in Canoe Slalom,” said Urankar. “In 2014, I became Youth Olympic champion in slalom but I didn’t want to stay there as I like more people in wildwater so that’s why I decided to move into that.” Urankar has established himself as one of the best Wildwater Canoeing paddlers in the world over the past seven years. He captured his first...

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