Rower Lyudmila Babak won two bronze medals at the Canoe Marathon World Championships
Lyudmila Babak, a Ukrainian canoeist, won two bronze medals at the World Canoe Marathon Championships. First, she finished the short distance (3.6 km) race, and then won bronze in the 14.4 km race.
Babak has already won 12 medals at the World Canoe Marathon Championships. This is the third time she has won two medals at a single tournament.
A total of 18 athletes participated in the short distance competition. Ukraine was also represented by Olena Tsygankova. Sofia Chorba from Hungary, the reigning world champion, was the main competitor of the Ukrainian rowers.
Babak managed to cover the distance in 18:40.95 minutes, ultimately taking third place. She was 15.45 seconds behind Chorba, the competition champion. Olena Tsygankova rounded out the top five, finishing with a time of 19:14.55 minutes.
Lyudmila Babak is a seven-time world champion in canoe marathon.
Canoe marathon championship. Single canoe, 3.6 km (women)
- Sofia Csorbá (Hungary) — 18:25.50 minutes
- Sofia Kisbán (Hungary) — 18:29.79 minutes
- Lyudmila Babak (Ukraine) — 18:40.95 minutes
- Olena Tsygankova (Ukraine) — 19:14.55 minutes
The next day, Babak won the bronze medal in the 14.4 km race. The Ukrainian lost more than a minute to Hungary’s Jady Bragano, but gained an almost identical advantage over Spain’s Maria Martin. Tsygankova finished in seventh place.
Canoe Marathon World Championships. Single Canoe, 14.4 km (women)
- Jadie Bragano (Hungary) 1:17:16.13
- Daniela Coci (Romania) 1:17:45.84
- Lyudmila Babak (Ukraine) 1:18:18.28
- Olena Tsygankova (Ukraine) 1:20:16.26
For Lyudmila Babak, these are the 11th and 12th medals in her career at the World Canoe Marathon Championships. She has managed to win two awards at one tournament for the third time in her career — she also did this in 2021 and 2023.
As a reminder, Lyudmila Luzan won her fourth gold medal at the World Rowing Championships. The Ukrainian athlete managed to win a medal at the 2025 World Championships on the opening day of the finals.
