The Paddler from Real Club Náutico de Palma, Álex Graneri, Wins Bronze at the Under-23 World Champio

Álex Graneri, a paddler from Real Club Náutico de Palma, has won the bronze medal at the Junior and Under-23 World Canoe Sprint Championships held in Plovdiv, Bulgaria.

The Mallorcan athlete is part of the Spanish team in the Olympic category K4 500, which finished in third place in a very fast final.

The K4 500 Under-23 event took place on the morning of Friday, July 19th. The Spanish team, composed of Álex Graneri, Sergio de la Peña, Alberto Llera, and Carlos García Ruiz, crossed the halfway point of the race in fourth place.

In the final push, the Spaniards managed to surpass the Czech Republic quartet to secure a spot on the podium. Graneri and the national K4 team were just six-tenths of a second away from the silver medal, which went to the Polish crew. The German team claimed the Under-23 World Championship title after dominating the race from start to finish.

Graneri explained that it was a tough final because the Czech team, racing in the adjacent lane, started very strong and gained half a boat length in the early stages. "They made their final sprint in the last 200 meters, while we waited until the 150-meter mark. When Alberto Llera, who is the third paddler, said 'go,' the boat responded very well, and we gradually caught up with them. We overtook them in the last few meters and became third in the world."

The Mallorcan paddler is competing in all three Olympic events at this World Championship. This afternoon, he will participate in the semifinal of the K2 500, and tomorrow in the semifinal of the K1 1000 meters, aiming to reach the final in both categories.

Another Mallorcan paddler has also stood out at the World Championship in Plovdiv. Àngels Moreno, from Reial Club Nàutic Port de Pollença, narrowly missed the podium in the C2 500 category. Moreno, who teams up with Galician Antía Otero, fought for the medal until the end but was overtaken in the final stages by the Portuguese crew, relegating the Spaniards to fourth place.