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Aussies shine at ICF Canoe Sprint & Paracanoe final

Paddle Australia

Despite the torrential downpour, Australia’s kayakers shone on the final day of the 2025 ICF Canoe Sprint and Paracanoe World Championships in Milan, collecting another silver and bronze medal to finish the medal tally with six.

Young gun Natalia Drobot won two silvers in 24 hours, declaring herself a major contender for the LA 2028 Olympic Games after taking silver in the K1 500 and then backing it up with another silver in the K2 500 with partner Kailey Harlen.

It capped off a huge international season for Drobot, 20, who last month won gold in the K1 500 at the U23 & Junior World Championships last month.

“I feel very happy, I couldn’t ask for much more,” said Drobot. “It’s just so nice that the hard work has paid off and we were able to put together good races and finish off the season really well.

“I’m going to be taking a little break now but looking forward to building on this year and making sure we can continue to step up,” she said.

Drobot and Harlen delivered an impressive final, leading at parts throughout the race and powering home to finish the Aussies campaign in style.

Harlen said she dreamt of a podium finish, and when that dream came true it almost rendered her speechless.

“Honestly, I think I got about two hours of sleep last night because I was dreaming about this exact moment… I dreamt this, so for this to come true is pretty awesome,” she said.

“The weather actually got better (as the race went on), I could actually see where I was going and I was just determined to give it my best crack,” said Harlen.

In the Men’s paracanoe, Paris 2024 Paralympic Games silver medalist Dylan Littlehales delivered a bronze medal in the Men’s KL2 200.

Originally earmarking a year off while he finished his post graduate honours in psychology, Littlehales’s short lead-in time didn’t stop him from producing a strong final which has placed him in the box seat for the next Paralympic cycle.

“At the start of this year I was just hoping to get in the middle of that A Final,” said Littlehales. “Usually the year after the Paralympic Games you see a drop off in the level of competition… but it’s a very hot field at the moment.

“It’s going to be a very tough [Paralympic] cycle, so to start it off with a top three at the World Championships, it’s a good feeling. But there is still a lot of work to be done.”

His medal winning performance coincided with a special milestone: seven years until the start of the Brisbane 2032 Paralympic Games. With three Paralympic Games under his belt the 25 years old isn’t ruling out a Brisbane tilt.

“At the moment I’m just focused on getting through the domestic season, then focus on the next World Championships, punch through to LA2028 and see where we’re at after that.

“It’s always been the dream to finish my career at Brisbane 2032 ever since it got announced. I’d be 32 years old, going to my fifth Paralympic Games, maybe finish with a gold and walk off into the sunset,” smiled Littlehales.

Australia finished their ICF Canoe Sprint and Paracanoe World Championships campaign with six medals: