Andorran Canoeist Ona Perelegre Advances to C1 Semis at Junior Euros

Andorran canoeist Nil Checa has been eliminated from the K1 kayak semifinals at the junior European championships in Épinal, France, after finishing 22nd out of 30 competitors.

Representing the Andorran Canoe and Kayak Federation (FACC), Checa started the semifinal in fifth position but needed a top-12 finish to reach the final. He completed the run in 97.95 seconds, including six seconds in penalties for touching three gates. This left him 11.22 seconds behind the leader and nearly eight seconds outside the qualification mark.

Checa had advanced to the K1 semifinal by placing 26th in qualifying with a time of 99.95 seconds plus six seconds in penalties. He had earlier failed to qualify for the C1 canoe semifinals, finishing 46th out of 50.

Teammate Ona Perelegre, who secured a spot in the C1 canoe semifinals by placing 24th out of 35 in qualifying (145.22 seconds plus six seconds in penalties), is next in action. She will start seventh at 9:12 a.m. and must finish among the top 12 to advance to the final. Perelegre had missed the K1 qualifying cutoff in 32nd place (130.45 seconds plus four seconds in penalties).

The pair began their campaign on Tuesday on a challenging course with a distinctive bend requiring quick adjustments, per FACC technician Adrià Martín.

Both athletes are scheduled for K1 cross preliminaries and heats tomorrow to conclude Andorra's participation.