Canoeing: Garioud and Barreras Champions© by Georgia Schofield for ICF

Frenchman Noic Garioud clinched his second world title in this year's competition, while Spanish athlete Esperanza Barreras successfully defended her crown, putting the spotlight on long-distance races at the International Canoe Federation's Stand Up Paddling World Championship.


The world's best stand-up paddlers are competing in the 2023 ICF Stand-Up Paddling (SUP) World Championship in Pattaya, 150 km south of Bangkok, Thailand. The Frenchman Noic Garioud is dominating the action with great success. He secured his second world title in as many days, while Spanish athlete Esperanza Barreras successfully defended her crown when the focus turned to long-distance races at the International Canoe Federation's Stand Up Paddling World Championship in Pattaya, Thailand, on Friday.

The New Caledonian paddler (a French territory in the South Pacific) had previously won in both the sprint and technical events at previous world championships and was excited to achieve his first title in the distance event at Jomtien Beach in Pattaya. "I've been looking for this; my coach told me I could do it, but I really didn't believe him because my specialty was more in sprinting," said Garioud. "I felt a bit sore, to be honest, and after that race, I'll be even more sore. The Japanese were pushing really hard, so it wasn't easy to keep up with their wake, but I tried to rest as much as possible, although they didn't make it easy."

In the women's race, it quickly turned into a competition among four participants, but Spanish athlete Esperanza Barreras led the group for most of the 15 kilometers. As the group approached the final buoy, the Spanish athlete pulled away, leaving her teammate Duna Gordillo and American Kimberly Barnes behind.

At the end of the race, the 1983-born Galician did not hide her joy: "Being the world champion twice in a row, I am really happy, but I just can't believe it," said Barreras. Regarding the final that gave her the back-to-back championship, she said, "I was trying to save some energy, but I felt good in the end and trusted all the work I had done to get here, so I just pushed harder and harder. I wasn't going to stop until I reached the finish line, and it worked."

Esperanza Barreras - Photo © by Georgia Schofield for ICF
Esperanza Barreras - Photo © by Georgia Schofield for ICF


In the men's youth races, Vaic Garioud emulated his older brother's performance by taking the male crown, defending the title he won in Poland last year. Japanese athletes Shimazu Nariakira and Kotaro Miyahira took second and third place on the podium, respectively.

In the women's youth race, 15-year-old Italian Claudia Postiglione caused a small upset by outracing her teammate and last year's champion, Cecilia Pampinella, to win the gold, while Hungarian Csillag Kocsis completed the podium.

RESULTS – LONG DISTANCE

OPEN MEN

  1. GARIOUD Noic (FRA) 01:29:36.17
  2. ARAKI Shuri (JPN) 01:29:36.83
  3. TAGUCHI Rai (JPN) 01:29:38.37

OPEN WOMEN

  1. BARRERAS Esperanza (ESP) 01:43:44.57
  2. BARNES Kimberly (USA) 01:43:58.26
  3. GORDILLO Duna (ESP)  01:44:06.68

JUNIOR MEN

  1. GARIOUD Vaic       (FRA) 01:02:02.63
  2. NARIAKIRA Shimazu (JPN) 01:02:38.68
  3. MIYAHIRA Kotaro (JPN) 01:03:37.14

JUNIOR WOMEN

  1. POSTIGLIONE Claudia (ITA) 01:12:25.61
  2. PAMPINELLA Cecilia (ITA) 01:12:29.42
  3. KOCSIS Csillag (HUN) 01:12:31.62

MEN 40 PLUS

  1. VAN BAKEL Joep (NED) 01:37:31.89
  2. FRAGKOS Georgios (GRE) 01:37:32.31
  3. BUDAY Tommy (CAN) 01:37:53.11

WOMEN 40 PLUS

  1. VAN MASLEN Petronella (NED) 01:54:59.94
  2. YOKOYAMA Takayo (JPN) 01:55:07.62
  3. LIER Susanne (GER) 01:56:52.38

MEN 50 PLUS

  1. WEIDERT Peter (GER) 01:07:33.63
  2. PARRES Daniel  (ESP) 01:08:08.94
  3. FORASTER Marc (ESP) 01:08:43.57

WOMEN 50 PLUS

  1. BUCHANAN Marie (GBR) 01:22:04.87
  2. OCCHIOGROSSO Anna (ITA) 01:27:41.98
  3. TSAOUTOU Penny (GRE) 01:29:30.98