Gates on Adda river awarded the points of the second day at the World Rafting Championships in Valtellina, Italy. Red gates were paired (4 5 7 8 11 12 ) and forced the 30 nations to paddle challenging ferries for the Slalom podium. 

In the men category the game turned in favour of Italy 1: after a touch on the 1st manche, Lorenzo Mastella, Pietro Fratton, Fabio Martini and Zeno Martini closed a golden run in 132,30 seconds in the second.

Japan 1 follows with a clean run with a 2 seconds gap: Taro Hando, Tohru Kanaya, Akira Nakano, Satoshi Koizumi and Keita Yagisawa got the silver with 134,81  seconds.

Brazil 1 (William Ferraz, Thiago Diniz Barne Ganeo, Pedro Aversa and Thiago Saldanha Serra) closes the podium with 135,32. 

 Men

In Women category Italy 1 defends the highest step of the podium: the Downriver winners Sara Amonini, Francesca Leonardi, Francesca Fontanive and Silvia Venturini stopped the chrono at  169,18.

3 seconds later Japan 1 (Masayo Abe, Hiromi Asai, Hanako Ita and Machiko Nakahashi) follows with 172,59. Bronze Chile closes the podium with 174,97: Camila Ortega Llancafilo, Paloma Molina, Nicole Plagemann, Yarela Munoz and Carla Barrientos.

 Women

Italian dominance continues in the Para Rafting podium: despite 1 touch and a 5 second penalty Italy 1 (Carlo Benciolini, Marco Montagna, Riccardo Novella and Dario Morandi) leads with 168,47 seconds.

Slalom silver to Italy 2 with a clean run by Rosario Sperandini, Salvatore Cutaia, Giordi Sarteur and Riccardo Colombo: 170,64.

Franco Gutierrez, Rodrigo Toledo, Matias Cavieres and Sebastian Acevedo from Chile 1 close the podium with 316,43.

Para

Home advantage prevails also in the Mix category. The only team to score a better result in the first run is Italy 2, who didn’t hold back in the first heat and took home a golden 146,67. Italy 1 on the second step of the podium with 147,89: Lorenzo Mastella, Zeno Martini, Giada Debon and Maria Martini.

Silver mix for Italy 1 with 147,89 seconds earned by Fabio Martini, Dario Morandi, Francesca Leonardi and Sara Amonini 147,89

Bronze medal to Colombia 1 150,28  William Delgado, Luswing Millan, Milyei Nunez and Milagros Morales.

Mix

Tomorrow the RX will decide everything starting at 9.30: follow the knock out that will crown the World Champions 2023 here:  

Today the Sala Consiglio dell’Amministrazione provinciale di Sondrio hosted the Press Conference for the World Rafting Championship that will take place from 26th June to 2nd July in Valtellina, on the Adda river rapids.

Boffetto, the III+ Adda section, is ready to welcome the worldwide event, but it's not the first time that athletes from all over the world paddle in its rapids. We remember the European Canoeing Championship in 2008 and 2009, the World Cup in 2010, 2011 and 2012, and the World Championship in 2014.

The Province President Davide Menegola opened the meeting after the online greetings of BIM Adda President, FICK President Luciano Buonfiglio, CONI President Giovanni Malagó and Sport e Salute President Vito Cozzoli.

Mr Menegola expressed satisfaction about the local cohesion that is necessary not only for the organisation of a successful event, but also to preserve the territory managing tourism in an active way.
Simone Luca Marchesini, Mayor of Piateda, and the Province Assessors were present and are happy to promote an event that that raises awareness about the importance to preserve the river and the potential of rafting in that direction.

The biggest event of the year is sanctioned by World Rafting Federation and organised by Federazione Italian Rafting (FIRaft) and Adda Viva Indomita Valtellina RIver.

FIRaft President Benedetto Del Zoppo renews the invitation to the opening ceremony on the night of 27th June: the 400 athletes from 33 nations will be presented in Piazza Garibaldi, Sondrio.

WRF President Danilo Barmaz is happy to see a great participation in the Mix (26) and Para-Rafting (6) category, apart from the 44 men teams and 22 women teams.
For the first time WRF will welcome teams directly from Africa: in 2021 France saw the Moroccoan team (living in France) competing for the world title. This time Ghana, Morocco, Senegal and Uganda will display men teams representing a great delegation from the African continent.

Also, for each athlete participating one tree will grow in Uganda, to prevent the deforestaion that is a concrete threat to the nowadays society, thanks to the collaboration with One Tree Planted.

Furthermore Peace and Sport will be present and the athletes will raise its symbol: as reference to the yellow and the red card in the sporting world, the #WhiteCard invites not to punish but to promote peace.

India and Japan men teams are already arrived and in these days are discovering the Boffetto rapids, where the Slalom and RX will take place. They are waiting for you!

The power of sport in promoting environmental sustainability and forest conservation is undoubtedly enormous. In recent years, more and more athletes, teams and sports organizations have joined the cause of OneTreePlanted, a non-profit organization dedicated to planting trees around the world to restore forests, protect wildlife and fight climate change.

Athletes' commitment to environmental sustainability is nothing new, but OneTreePlanted has been able to make the most of this potential. The organization has created an online platform that allows athletes and sports enthusiasts to support the cause of reforestation through donations, challenges and crowdfunding campaigns. Many professional athletes have already shown their support for OneTreePlanted, using their visibility to raise awareness of deforestation and the need for action to protect forests.

But it's not just professional athletes who support OneTreePlanted. Sports teams and organizations of all levels are also embracing the cause of reforestation. The World Rafting Federation on the occasion of the WRF World Rafting Championships 2023, as for the previous one in 2021, is honored to support the reforestation project - this time in Uganda - by planting 1 tree for every athlete participant in the event.

We now wanna direct to every athlete, we have chance through the sport we love to raise awareness of the need to protect forests and take action against climate change. Athletes, teams and sports fans can all do their part to support this cause, helping to create a more sustainable future for all. 

After Tuesday’s opening ceremony in Sondrio (Valtellina, Italy) the first race day displayed the 400 athletes at the World Champs in Boffetto for the Downriver: a section of 4.5 km in Adda river assigned the first golden points. 

Japan made their debut in WRF competitions and it is an explosive start: after setting the best time in the RX qualification Japan men 1 spotted the first position with Taro hando, Tohru Kanaya, Akira Nakano, Satoshi Koizumi, Keita Yagisawa paddling with an excellent time of 20’52.27. “We came prepared, but we didn’t expect the WRF race rafts to be so aggressive, they have a smooth and exciting reaction to the flow.”

Japan 1 men - Downriver gold

With a gap of almost 27 seconds Brasil 1, the PanAmerican champions William Ferraz, Thiago Diniz Barne Ganeo, Murilo Torres, Pedro Aversa and Thiago Saldanha Serra take the silver with 21’19.26.

Carlo Benciolini, Riccardo Colombo, Giordy Sarteur and Sabino Seka - Italy 2 secures third with 21’22.95.

In the women category the local team with 3 athletes from Valtellina, competing in their home run, brought home the gold: Italy 1 - Sara Amonini, Francesca Fontanive, Francesca Leonardi and Silvia Venturini stopped the chronometer at 22’36.02. 

"Playing at home is strange, more pressure but the satisfacion is priceless: it is definitley better to win in our home run rather than abroad"

Italy 1 women

A gap of 13 seconds put Japan 1 women team in the second position: Masayo Abe, Hiromi Asai, Hanako Ita and Machiko Nakahashi on the silver step of the podium. 

Third step of the podium, with 23'00.53 for Czech Republic Zdenka Fingrova, Anna Kasparova, Blanka Martinkova, Karolina Kocmanova annd Lenka Bauerova.

Also Para-Rafting teams are drawing smooth lines through the Adda rapids as the level keeps growing: 

Downriver gold stays home thanks to Italy 2 of Italy with 2 22’20.88: Pietro Fratton, Riccardo Colombo, Rosario Sperandini and Paolo Bertello. 

Italy 2 - Para-Rafting

Italy 1 22'47.27 , for only 2 seconds, gets the silver: Carlo Benciolini, Marco Montagna, Rosario Sperandini and Paolo Bertello.

Third place for Chile 1 25'27.51  Franco Rodriguez, Rodrigo Toledo, Matias Cavieres and Sebastian Acevedo.

Last but not least, with 23 teams, the mix category: the podium is all for the Azzurri, racing at home:

Italy 122'12.82  Fabio Martini, Dario Morandi, Francesca Leonardi and Sara Amonini

Italy 2 22'22.89  Lorenzo Mastella, Zeno Martini, Giada Debon and Maria Martini

Italy 3 22'35.50  Giulia Liuzzo, Luca Liuzzo, Giacomo Schettino and Alejandra Gazzola.

The World Championships is always been one of the most exciting events in the world of rafting. It is a moment of great emotion, in which the best athletes of each nation compete for glory and fame. But the World Championship isn't just a competition, it's also an opportunity to get to know new countries, teams and friends.

With each edition of the World Championship, new nations join the World Rafting Family, bringing with them new teams. This makes the race even more interesting and challenging, because every event becomes an opportunity to discover new tactics and new styles.

This year at the WRC 2023 we are expecting over 30 nations on the river Adda, in Valtellina (Albania, Argentina, Armenia, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Czech Republic, France, Georgia, Ghana, India, Iran, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Morocco, North Macedonia, Malta, Montenegro, Netherlands, Peru, Slovenia, Serbia, Switzerland, Slovakia, Turkey, Ukraine, Venezuela).

As with every World Championship, there are teams that have been mainstays in the movement for decades, and then there are teams that are making their first debut. The presence of both old and new teams will creating opportunities for upsets and surprises. We are very happy to welcome you all in this unique atmosphere of solidarity and friendship, where differences dissolve in the face of passion for the river.

Rafting is not just a sport but an opportunity to bring people together and we wish good luck everyone! 

@worldrafting

The most awaited appointment for rafting and extreme sport lovers is almost there: the WRF World Rafting Championships 2023, organized this time by the Italian Rafting Federation and the Adda Viva Indomita Valtellina River in Valtellina, in the heart of the beautiful Italian Alps.

This year the competition will see about 450 athletes of the best rafting teams from all over the world, to compete for the title of ‘’World Champion’’. The event will be held in Valtellina, Lombardy, in northern Italy - on the waves of the river Adda where many canoeing events of continental and worldwide interest have been organized in the past including the 2014 ICF World Canoeing Championships.

The competitions will take place from 26th June to 2nd July in different specialties, including the Downriver, the Slalom, and RX: the specialty in which two teams will compete simultaneously in the same section of the river to win the victory. The Rafting World Championship is an exciting and spectacular event that attracts many fans of this extreme sport. But don’t worry if you cannot reach Italy because all the competitions will be followed live and broadcasted online on the official channels of the World Rafting Federation (@worldrafting) as far as all the media, contents and results.

So what’s your bet? Which flag will top the podium of the Champion this year? At the moment more than 30 nations are already registered, from all over the globe (Albania, Argentina, Armenia, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Colombia,Costa Rica, Croatia, Czech Republic, France, Georgia, Ghana, India, Iran, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Morocco, North Macedonia, Malta, Montenegro, Netherlands, Peru, Slovenia, Serbia, Switzerland, Slovakia, Turkey, Ukraine, Venezuela).

The challenges of rafting, together with the natural beauty of the places where the competitions take place, will once again make this appointment a unique experience for anyone who loves adventure and adrenaline. An important occasion for the World Federation to promote ecotourism and the protection of the environment through young people and sport: re-proposing a partnership with OneTreePlanted - a movement that works for reforestation worldwide - for each athlete participating in the worlds in fact a tree will be planted in Uganda, country with one of the highest rates of deforestation in the world.

Follow us on all our social account to stay update and find all the news on the World Rafting Championships 2023! 

@worldrafting

We are in the middle of the Italian Alps, on the III class rapids of Adda river, that flows through the Lombardy region in northern Italy. It originates from the Alps near the border of Switzerland and runs eastward for approximately 313 kilometres before emptying into the Po river. During its course it flows through Valtellina, before creating the stunning Como Lake, and in this green valley the biggest event of the rafting year is starting today.

Boffetto, Sondrio province, North Italy - 327 above the sea level

Here the copious snowfalls of the past winter are guaranteeing a great water flow of 35/40 cubics, that will be run by 400 athletes from all over the world, during the week from 26th June to 2nd July. The stakes are high: the title of World Champions.

30 nations answered the call and arrived in Boffetto (Comune Piateda), that already hosted several international canoeing competitions, culminating in the 2014 World Canoeing Championship.

This time the boats are bigger with Aquadesign race rafts, and the numbers too. Yesterday the accreditation welcommed many new countries that joined our movement and already appreciated the lines during the first day of official training this afternoon.

Today, after the last chance to find the fastest line during the official training, the official ceremony will officially open the champs: we invite all the athletes to participate in Sondrio city in the historical center, 20.00 local time.

Buona settimana, enjoy the race week rafters!

Tic tac! The Worlds are just over a month away and we are happy to present the Media-Tool-Kit of the event.

The WRF World Rafting Championships 2023 will be the biggest rafting event in history, bringing together for the first time more than 30 Nations. Participants and partners are encouraged to help promote as well as celebrate the event through the use of this digital toolkit which has been developed to help you maximise the opportunity through a range of assets and ready-to-use content.

On March 13th, 2023, Vjosa was declared as Europe's first Wild River National Park, further cementing its status as one of Albania's natural wonders. The river is home to more than 1,100 species, including diverse fish fauna with high percentages of endemic species of the Balkans, and authentic communities. With its lush vegetation, Vjosa is an ideal destination for adventure enthusiasts seeking exploration and relaxation.

For over a decade, environmental experts, tourism activists, and organizations such as EcoAlbania, Patagonia, Riverwatch, Euronatur, and IUCN, alongside residents of the communities surrounding Vjosa, media, national and international artists, tour operators, and activity enthusiasts have been dedicated to safeguarding Vjosa for future generations.

During the celebrations of Vjosa NP's declaration in the Municipality of Tepelena, Prime Minister Edi Rama announced, "Currently, almost 21% of Albania's territory is designated as a protected area, and we are continuously expanding this area each year towards achieving our target of having 30% of Albania's land as a protected area by 2030."

Minister Mirela Kumbaro announced, "Today, the Albanian government has officially declared the Vjosa River and its three tributaries (Drino, Bënçë, Shushicë) as a National Park, encompassing its entire length. This declaration is the result of two years of tireless efforts from the Ministry of Tourism and Environment, the National Agency of Protected Areas, the National Agency of Territorial Planning, local and foreign workers, Patagonia, and IUCN. The team worked village by village to cover the entire stretch of the river, from Leskovik, Çarshova, and Përmet to Këlcyre and Tepelënë, Memaliaj and Fier, Vlorë and Gjirokastër, Dropull, and Libohova. This historic decision would not have been possible without the support of my colleagues. Environmental protection, biodiversity conservation, and tourism development were once unimaginable when economic aid was focused on addressing emergencies. We are grateful to everyone who contributed to this achievement. This decision marks a significant milestone in Albania's efforts towards environmental conservation."

Vjosa is home to 13 globally endangered animal species and 2 plant species, along with at least 50 animal and 24 plant species listed on Albania's Red Lists, according to information from ecoalbania.org. The river and its tributaries flow freely from the mountains of Greece to the Adriatic coast of Albania, creating a vast natural area with diverse habitats. The upper part has narrow gorges, the middle course has wide meandering river sections, and there is a quasi-natural delta in the Adriatic Sea. The middle stream alone has at least 8 priority habitat types for nature conservation within the European Union framework. Scientific understanding of Vjosa's biodiversity and ecological processes is limited because it is one of Europe's least explored rivers. However, existing studies emphasize the river valley's importance as a biodiversity "hot spot" in Albania, providing ideal aquatic habitats for numerous species.

GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY FOR ECO TOURISM

Blerina Ago, a member of the WRF Board, an advocate for nature conservation, adventure travel, and pioneer of promoting destinations in the Western Balkans, suggests that the Vjosa River in Albania has the potential to become a premier ecotourism destination worldwide. Its unspoiled waters, stunning scenery, and diverse biodiversity offer an ideal setting for a unique nature-based experience.

Ecotourism has gained popularity, especially during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, as travelers seek authentic experiences that enable them to connect with nature while supporting local conservation efforts. The Vjosa River is one of the few remaining wild rivers in Europe with untouched habitats that provide shelter for various species. Visitors can observe a wide range of wildlife, including otters, eagles, and rare freshwater fish. Additionally, the river offers various activities, such as kayaking, climbing, rafting, wilderness camping, stand up paddleboarding, hydrospeed, cycling, hiking, and mountain climbing, allowing visitors to actively engage with the river's natural beauty.