Mariecarmen Rivera won the women's technical race at the 2026 ICF Stand Up Paddling World Championships in Sabaudia, Italy. The Puerto Rican finished in 5:04.28 to take her second technical title in a row. It was her fourth world championship overall.
A lead built in the second half, held to the line
Rivera came into the final a day after taking silver in the sprint. In the technical race she moved one step higher on the podium. She kept her speed up for the whole race on Lago di Paola, the protected lagoon that hosted the finals.
The decisive move came in the second half. Rivera built a lead that left her rivals chasing, with a loud crowd behind the afternoon final. The lagoon lies between the Tyrrhenian Sea and the Circeo National Park.
She held on to beat Spain's Duna Rodríguez, second in 5:06.96, by 2.68 seconds. Alba Alonso Frey of Spain took bronze in 5:10.77, 6.49 seconds back. Home favourite Cecilia Pampinella, the sprint winner the day before, did not reach the podium.
Four world titles, two in the technical
The win lifts Rivera's world title count to four, with two of them now in the technical race. At the 2025 Abu Dhabi championships she swept the women's sprint, technical and long-distance titles, an unprecedented treble that also brought Puerto Rico its first gold at these championships. In that technical race she took control before the first buoy, and her sprint title there came by 0.59 seconds over Alonso Frey.
Sabaudia staged the event after storm damage made the original Sicily venue unusable for 2026. The championships drew 782 athletes from 55 countries and decided 24 world titles across sprint, technical and long-distance racing. Before Sabaudia, Rivera had dominated the women's racing at the EuroTour stop in Royan.
Rivera described the pressure of the chase in simple terms. "I was thinking to myself, don't let those girls get you," she said afterwards, adding that she paddled hard and gave everything. Back-to-back in the technical, she sees the win as proof of her consistency, and plans to keep going.
