Sprint canoe and paracanoe world championships presented in Allianz Tower

The ICF Canoe Sprint & Paracanoe World Championships were presented at the Allianz Tower in Milan. From August 20 to 24, 2025, the Idroscalo basin will be the stage for an event that represents not only the top sporting event in the discipline but also a unique opportunity to promote through sport values such as inclusion, sustainability, and environmental education.

The presentation press conference was held on Tuesday, June 10, in the striking 47th floor of the Allianz Tower, the jersey sponsor of the Italian national canoe and kayak teams for the 2024-2028 Olympic and Paralympic quadrennium. Present at the speakers’ table were Italian Canoe Kayak Federation President Luciano Buonfiglio, Allianz S.p.A. General Manager Maurizio Devescovi, Undersecretary with responsibility for Sport and Youth of Lombardy, Federica Picchi, Milan City Councilor for Sport Martina Riva, and Councillor delegate for the Metropolitan City’s Idroscalo Roberto Maviglia. Also present was CONI President Giovanni Malagò, who in his greeting emphasized how the long sprint for the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Games also passes through the Idroscalo event, the only world championship of an Olympic discipline to be hosted in Italy in 2025.

The event will be held in the city of Milan in 2025.

In five days of competition – opening ceremony on Tuesday, Aug. 19 – as many as 24 sprint canoe rainbow titles and 12 laurels in Paracanoe will be awarded. There will be 60 nations competing for more than 1,500 athletes and technical staff. All the big names in the discipline are expected, from Olympic medalists from Paris and Tokyo to reigning European and world champions.

Milan 2025 will also be the first “green” World Championships in the history of the international canoeing movement thanks to the European Erasmus+ DECK project. In fact, an environmental protocol developed by FICK with ICF, Scuola Sant’Anna di Pisa and five foreign federations, aimed at minimizing the event’s ecological impact, will be applied. Among the measures envisaged: the elimination of single-use plastic, extensive waste separation, sustainable mobility and a strong public awareness campaign on environmental issues.

In parallel to the competition, the educational project “Supporter for a day: let’s cheer for sport” will come to life, promoted by the Lombardy Region in collaboration with the Italian Canoe Kayak Federation. About 1,000 girls and boys from Lombardy schools (ages 8-14) will be involved, who will have the opportunity to participate in sports workshops, meetings with international athletes, and canoe experiences.

Inclusion will be another cornerstone of the rainbow event with the TIP Camp (Talent Identification Program) project developed with the International Canoe Federation (ICF), through which FICK will internally fund the participation of 30 young athletes from developing countries.

The Worlds will also be a key moment for the path leading to the next Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games Milan Cortina 2026, the event in fact is part of the “Italy of the Games” program with which Milan Cortina, in collaboration with CONI and CIP, wants to celebrate throughout the country the presence of the Italian Olympics and Paralympics in 2026.

The World Sprint Canoe and Paracanoe Championships will have exceptional television coverage thanks to the great commitment of RAI, which will be Host Broadcaster of the event, whose cameras will film every single moment of the event, while Corriere dello Sport and Tuttosport will be media partners of the event.