# Canoe slalom at the 2023 European Games – Men's kayak cross

The men's kayak cross event at the 2023 European Games took place on 2 July 2023 at the Kraków-Kolna Canoe Slalom Course in Kraków, with the qualification on 1 July 2023.

## Competition format

The kayak cross event is split into two phases - qualification time trials and knockout phase where 4 paddlers race each other head-to-head. Top 16 paddlers from the qualification advance to the quarterfinal. There are 4 quarterfinal heats with the top 2 paddlers advancing from each to the semifinal. Same rules apply in the two semifinals and the medals are then decided in the final run.
Paddlers start the cross run by sliding off the starting platform several meters above the water. Then they must navigate the downstream and upstream gates. Unlike in classic slalom, paddlers are allowed to touch the gates and even intentionally move them with their paddle, but not with a free hand. There is also a designated zone where paddlers must perform an Eskimo roll.
Athletes can be penalized in three ways in each round, by receiving a fault (FLT) or by being ranked as lower (RAL). Faults are incurred for false starts, missing gates or failing to correctly perform the Eskimo roll. Athletes are ranked as lower (RAL) if they breach the safety requirements of the competition, such as by holding back another athlete with their hands or paddle, deliberately paddling over another athlete's boat, or by making dangerous contact with another athlete's head or body - all other non-dangerous contact is allowed. In each round athletes are ranked first by the order in which they cross the finish line, with those incurring penalties ranked in the following order: FLT, RAL, DNF, DNS.
The final classification of athletes is determined in the following manner: Athletes eliminated at any phase of the competition will be given their rank based on the comparison of the qualification times of athletes eliminated at the same phase. All 3rd ranked athletes will be ranked above all 4th ranked athletes. The final rank of athletes who did not progress to the heats is determined by their qualification results.

## Schedule

All times are Central European Summer Time (UTC+2)
| Date | Time | Round |
| 1 July 2023 |
| 1 July 2023 | 15:05 | Qualification |
| 2 July 2023 |
| 2 July 2023 | 15:05 | Quarterfinals |
| 2 July 2023 | 15:38 | Semifinals |
| 2 July 2023 | 15:59 | Final |

## Results
### Qualification

| Rank | Bib | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 3 | Stefan Hengst | Germany | 61.85 | Q |
| 2 | 23 | Titouan Castryck | France | 61.98 | Q |
| 3 | 8 | Benjamin Renia | France | 62.32 | Q |
| 4 | 14 | Boris Neveu | France | 62.79 | Q |
| 5 | 16 | Christopher Bowers | Great Britain | 63.09 | Q |
| 6 | 22 | Mateusz Polaczyk | Poland | 63.49 | Q |
| 7 | 18 | Ondřej Tunka | Czech Republic | 63.64 | Q |
| 8 | 5 | Mario Leitner | Austria | 63.84 | Q |
| 9 | 19 | Alistair McCreery | Ireland | 63.87 | Q |
| 10 | 15 | David Llorente | Spain | 63.96 | Q |
| 11 | 6 | Vít Přindiš | Czech Republic | 63.98 | Q |
| 12 | 25 | Manuel Munsch | Switzerland | 64.03 | Q |
| 13 | 11 | Felix Oschmautz | Austria | 64.48 | Q |
| 14 | 2 | Dimitri Marx | Switzerland | 64.90 | Q |
| 15 | 33 | Jonny Dickson | Great Britain | 64.94 | Q |
| 16 | 4 | Giovanni De Gennaro | Italy | 64.95 | Q |
| 17 | 9 | Hannes Aigner | Germany | 65.06 | |
| 18 | 10 | Jan Rohrer | Switzerland | 65.27 | |
| 19 | 17 | Erik Holmer | Sweden | 65.39 | |
| 20 | 27 | Fredrik Wahlén | Sweden | 66.06 | |
| 21 | 30 | Pau Echaniz | Spain | 66.25 | |
| 22 | 29 | Noah Hegge | Germany | 66.31 | |
| 23 | 28 | Jakub Krejčí | Czech Republic | 66.59 | |
| 24 | 40 | Davide Ghisetti | Italy | 66.59 | |
| 25 | 42 | Ritvars Celmiņš | Latvia | 67.55 | |
| 26 | 24 | Oleksandr Fedorenko | Ukraine | 68.65 | |
| 27 | 13 | Tine Kancler | Slovenia | 69.85 | |
| 28 | 47 | Angel Petrushev | North Macedonia | 70.20 | |
| 29 | 26 | Serhii Sovko | Ukraine | 70.26 | |
| 30 | 49 | Peter Kauzer | Slovenia | 70.35 | |
| 31 | 52 | Lucas Jacob | Portugal | 72.67 | |
| 32 | 41 | Edgars Gravitis | Latvia | 72.71 | |
| 33 | 34 | Artem Ivchenko | Ukraine | 73.16 | |
| 34 | 39 | Ren Korpes | Croatia | 73.24 | |
| 35 | 45 | Charalampos Troiannos | Greece | 73.79 | |
| 36 | 36 | Mārtiņš Plaudis | Latvia | 74.74 | |
| 37 | 48 | Nils Biermans | Netherlands | 74.76 | |
| 38 | 21 | Martin Halčin | Slovakia | 75.46 | |
| 39 | 50 | Dirk Hermans | Netherlands | 76.02 | |
| 40 | 37 | Ilja Buran | Slovakia | 76.78 | |
| 41 | 51 | Emir Abdihodžić | Bosnia and Herzegovina | 78.72 | |
| 42 | 12 | Isak Öhrström | Sweden | 67.64 | FLT (6) |
| 43 | 31 | Lorand Gjoshi | Kosovo | 68.88 | FLT (6) |
| 44 | 20 | Gabriel De Coster | Belgium | 71.52 | FLT (6) |
| 45 | 7 | Vid Kuder Marušič | Slovenia | 75.43 | FLT (6) |
| 46 | 44 | Leonardo Proietti | Italy | 77.62 | FLT (6) |
| 47 | 46 | Tadeusz Kuchno | Poland | 67.24 | FLT (4) |
| 48 | 43 | Kacper Sztuba | Poland | 67.26 | FLT (4) |
| 49 | 38 | Paul Preisl | Austria | 69.95 | FLT (4) |
| 50 | 1 | Joe Clarke | Great Britain | 73.62 | FLT (4, 6) |
| 51 | 35 | Jakub Grigar | Slovakia | 67.67 | FLT (S, 6) |
| - | 32 | Miquel Travé | Spain | - | DNS |

### Knockout rounds
#### Quarterfinals
##### Heat 1

| Rank | Bib | Name | Country | Notes |
| 1 | 8 | Mario Leitner | Austria | Q |
| 2 | 1 | Stefan Hengst | Germany | Q |
| 3 | 12 | Manuel Munsch | Switzerland | |
| 4 | 16 | Giovanni De Gennaro | Italy | FLT (6) |

##### Heat 2

| Rank | Bib | Name | Country | Notes |
| 1 | 4 | Boris Neveu | France | Q |
| 2 | 13 | Felix Oschmautz | Austria | Q |
| 3 | 9 | Alistair McCreery | Ireland | |
| 4 | 5 | Christopher Bowers | Great Britain | FLT (1) |

##### Heat 3

| Rank | Bib | Name | Country | Notes |
| 1 | 3 | Benjamin Renia | France | Q |
| 2 | 6 | Mateusz Polaczyk | Poland | Q |
| 3 | 14 | Dimitri Marx | Switzerland | FLT (S) |
| 4 | 10 | David Llorente | Spain | FLT (3, R) |

##### Heat 4

| Rank | Bib | Name | Country | Notes |
| 1 | 11 | Vít Přindiš | Czech Republic | Q |
| 2 | 7 | Ondřej Tunka | Czech Republic | Q |
| 3 | 2 | Titouan Castryck | France | FLT (6) |
| 4 | 15 | Jonny Dickson | Great Britain | FLT (3) |

#### Semifinals
##### Heat 1

| Rank | Bib | Name | Country | Notes |
| 1 | 4 | Boris Neveu | France | Q |
| 2 | 13 | Felix Oschmautz | Austria | Q |
| 3 | 1 | Stefan Hengst | Germany | |
| 4 | 8 | Mario Leitner | Austria | FLT (7) |

##### Heat 2

| Rank | Bib | Name | Country | Notes |
| 1 | 11 | Vít Přindiš | Czech Republic | Q |
| 2 | 7 | Ondřej Tunka | Czech Republic | Q |
| 3 | 6 | Mateusz Polaczyk | Poland | |
| 4 | 3 | Benjamin Renia | France | FLT (6) |

#### Final

| Rank | Bib | Name | Country | Notes |
| | 7 | Ondřej Tunka | Czech Republic | |
| | 13 | Felix Oschmautz | Austria | |
| | 11 | Vít Přindiš | Czech Republic | FLT (4) |
| 4 | 4 | Boris Neveu | France | FLT (R) |

### Final ranking (Top 16)

The top 16 ranking determined by the knockout rounds. Bib numbers correspond to qualification ranking.
| Rank | Bib | Athlete | Country | Heat rank |
| | 7 | Ondřej Tunka | Czech Republic | 1 |
| | 13 | Felix Oschmautz | Austria | 2 |
| | 11 | Vít Přindiš | Czech Republic | 3 |
| 4 | 4 | Boris Neveu | France | 4 |
| 5 | 1 | Stefan Hengst | Germany | SF1 (3) |
| 6 | 6 | Mateusz Polaczyk | Poland | SF2 (3) |
| 7 | 3 | Benjamin Renia | France | SF2 (4) |
| 8 | 8 | Mario Leitner | Austria | SF1 (4) |
| 9 | 2 | Titouan Castryck | France | QF4 (3) |
| 10 | 9 | Alistair McCreery | Ireland | QF2 (3) |
| 11 | 12 | Manuel Munsch | Switzerland | QF1 (3) |
| 12 | 14 | Dimitri Marx | Switzerland | QF3 (3) |
| 13 | 5 | Christopher Bowers | Great Britain | QF2 (4) |
| 14 | 10 | David Llorente | Spain | QF3 (4) |
| 15 | 15 | Jonny Dickson | Great Britain | QF4 (4) |
| 16 | 16 | Giovanni De Gennaro | Italy | QF1 (4) |