Ukrainian paddlers Liudmyla Luzan and Iryna Fedoriv captured Ukraine’s first gold medal at the 2025 World Canoe Sprint Championships in Milan, defeating Canadian duo Zoë Wojcik and Katie Vincent in the women’s canoe doubles 500-meter final.

 The victory marks a significant achievement for both athletes at the championships running from 20-24 August in Italy, according to Ukrainska Pravda Sports,

Spanish paddlers Angeles Moreno and Victoria Yarchevska claimed bronze in the event. The result represents a reversal of fortunes from the European Championships in June, where Luzan and Fedoriv finished second behind the Spanish pair who took gold in that competition.

For Luzan, this victory adds a fifth world championship gold medal to her career collection. Fedoriv secured her first world championship medal at this level of competition.

The Ukrainian success comes at the midpoint of the Milan championships, with competition continuing through Saturday at the Idroscalo venue. The championships feature both traditional canoe sprint and paracanoe events running concurrently.

The victory builds on the pair’s silver medal performance at the 2025 European Canoe Sprint Championships in Racice, Czech Republic, where they competed in the 200-meter canoe doubles event in June.