Cecilia Pampinella seized her first senior world title in the women’s sprint at the 2026 ICF Stand Up Paddling World Championships, stopping the clock at 28.69 on Lake Paola in Sabaudia. The 20-year-old Italian beat defending champion Mariecarmen Rivera on home water.
A final fought to the last metre
She kept her eyes on the finish line and pushed at maximum through the closing section, using every bit of energy she had.
Rivera fell narrowly behind at the line and took silver in 28.90. Poland’s 19-year-old Hanna Kaminska claimed bronze in 28.96, leaving the podium separated by barely a quarter of a second.
From European sweep to world gold
The world title caps a commanding autumn. At the European Championships in September she swept all three open women’s titles — sprint, technical race and long distance — taking the sprint lead from the early stages. Four days later she won the World Cup sprint on Crete by just 0.060 seconds over Kaminska.
Rivera arrived in Sabaudia as the three‑time world champion after her own clean sweep in Abu Dhabi the year before. Pampinella missed those championships, instead taking sprint bronze behind Rivera at the 2025 ISA Worlds in El Salvador.
A home victory that leaves one speechless
“The race had everything,” Pampinella told reporters. With the Italian crowd behind her, she added that winning a world title at home “leaves one speechless.”
The gold, on a course that suits sprint racing, was her first-ever victory at an ICF world championship.
