Klaudia Zwolinska (POL) delivered a commanding performance to win gold in the women’s canoe (C1) at the ICF Slalom World Championships 2025, improving on the silver medal she won at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

Zwolinska was in a league of her own, crossing the line more than four seconds clear of silver medallist Alsu Minazova (AIN). The fight for second was far closer, with just 0.1 seconds separating Minazova from Ana Satila (BRA), who claimed bronze.

After finishing runner-up in Paris, Zwolinska left no doubt in Penrith.

“I can't believe this actually happened today,” she said. “I'm confident in K1, but in C1 I’ve always made small mistakes. Finally, both my runs were really good—I’m so happy.”

The Polish athlete also praised her ability to adapt to the challenging conditions.

“It was super windy, really tough. I’m proud of myself. I’m loving Australia - this place is amazing,” she said. “I’m more of a technical athlete, not super strong. So I knew I had to be clean and precise. That was my focus, and I knew the wind would play to my strengths.”

Despite producing one of only three clean runs in the final, Australia’s Noemie Fox finished ninth overall, more than eight seconds behind Zwolinska’s winning time. 

Competition continues Friday with the men's and women's kayak (K1) finals with action getting underway from 10:30am AEST. 

The ICF Slalom World Championships are live and free on Channel 9 and 9Now.

What the medalists said: 

Klaudia Zwolinska (POL) 

On winning gold medal:

I can't believe that this actually happened to me today. I'm confident in the K1 but in the C1 I have always had some small mistakes and finally, today, my two runs were really good, and I'm so happy.

On the windy conditions and adapting her race plan:

The conditions were super hard. Like it was super windy, so I'm so proud of myself and now I'm enjoying Australia so much - I'm loving this place.

“My strength is being a more technical athlete. I'm not really strong. So when it was conditions like this, I knew that I needed to be really technical. My moves needed to be really good and clean. So I was focusing on it and I knew before the race it will be my strength, that it's windy and I need to do it and I need to do it really clear.”

On winning C1 and preparing for K1 finals:

“I'm still feeling like it's a dream. Like in my dreams, I was thinking about the K1 – to fight for the gold because I had the medals before in this event. But with C1 I was like, okay, let's go, let's fight, but I knew before that it would be really hard to get a medal. It's so weird.”

There’s even more pressure now because I need to be faster in the K1. I cannot be slower so I don't know how I'll do it. I have the night to think about it.”‍

On the Penrith course and Australia:

Right now it's my favourite course in the world. Right now, I love this place!”

Alsu Minazova (AIN) - silver

“The run was amazing because my last world championship was in 2021. I'm so happy to be here and competing again. Unbelievable. I don't know, I think I don't understand what's happening - this was so unexpected.”

“I had a really good run, really fast. I had two seconds penalty, but the run was still really good, it's my level.”

“I can't really celebrate this one, I have a race tomorrow and need to focus on K1. After, of course, we will celebrate this medal for our team.”

On Australia: 

“I love Australia so much, it's a really beautiful country. It's oceans, a good course”

Ana Satila (BRA) - 3rd 

“That's a mix of feelings right now. I'm really happy with my run, I think the conditions were not so good. It was so windy and I was worried, I didn't want to lose my paddle in the middle of the race while switching it. I was trying to focus on the best I could do during my final, to be calm and to try to do my best again. I'm proud of my run. But when I finished, I was first and then they added a touch penalty. The judges couldn't show on the video how I touched, so it's a bit sad, but I think I've been through this kind of situation many, many times during my whole career. So I'm happy to, anyway, to be on the podium and to get another medal for my country.”

“It was like the best support I ever had in my whole life until now. After the Olympics, with our good results, everybody decided to support a bit more. It's the first time that we have a big team like this. We have doctors, physios, preparators and psychologists. Everyone tries to help me to do my best in the water. And today's race showed that it was worth it. I had a terrible beginning of the season, I didn't compete at all. Coming back this way and being here and getting a medal just means so much to me.”