Jiří Prskavec (; born 18 May 1993) is a Czech slalom canoeist who has competed at the international level since 2008, specializing in the K1 discipline. In 2023 he also started competing in C1. He also occasionally appears in kayak cross. With an Olympic gold and a bronze, 2 individual world titles and 5 individual European titles, he is one of the most successful K1 paddlers of his generation.
Career Prskavec competed at three Olympic games. In his first appearance he won a bronze medal in the K1 event at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro after touching one gate in the final. He then won gold in the K1 event at the delayed 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. He also competed at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, finishing 8th in the K1 event and 11th in kayak cross.
Prskavec won 12 medals at the ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships including six individual medals. He won gold in the K1 event in 2015 in London and then again in 2019 in La Seu d'Urgell. He also has three silvers (2013, 2018 and 2023) and one bronze (2025) in the K1 event. The other six medals came from the K1 team events as part of the Czech team. These include three golds (2015, 2017, 2023), two silvers (2014, 2019) and a bronze (2018)
Prskavec also won 21 medals (15 golds, 3 silver and 3 bronzes) at the European Championships. Ten of these medals are individual (7 golds and 3 bronzes), including a gold medal in the K1 event at the 2023 European Games in Kraków.
Prskavec won the overall World Cup title in the K1 class a total of three times (2018, 2019 and 2022). He finished the 2016, 2019-2021 and 2023 seasons as the World No. 1.
Prskavec started competing in the C1 discipline in 2023 and had immediate success. Just qualifying for the strong Czech national team was already considered an achievement. He then shocked the canoeing world by winning bronze in his first ever international C1 appearance at a World Cup in Augsburg.
Prskavec competed at the 2010 Summer Youth Olympics where he won bronze in the K1 slalom event.
Personal life His father Jiří is a former slalom canoeist and a medalist from World and European Championships.
Career statistics
Major championships results timeline
Event 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026Olympic Games K1 Not held —Not held3Not held1Not held8Not held Kayak crossNot held 11Not held World Championships C1 — Not held — — — Not held — — — Not held — — 31 Not held 19 — K110 Not held2 181 Not held 1921 Not held 1152 Not held3 14 Kayak crossNot held — — — Not held 42 87 — Not held — — C1 team — Not held — — — Not held — — — Not held — —7 Not held8 — K1 team5 Not held421 Not held132 Not held441 Not held76 European Championships C1 — — — — — — — — — — — —46 13 — K13 —11613381711914 C1 team — — — — — — — — — — — —628 — K1 team5 —1491111211 14182
World Cup individual podiums Total C1 1 0 1 2 K1 9 5 7 21 Total 10 5 8 23
SeasonDateVenuePositionEvent 2014 21 June 2014 Prague 2nd K1 2015 20 June 2015 Prague 1st K1 2016 3 September 2016 Prague 1st K1 2017 17 June 2017 Prague 2nd K1 24 June 2017 Augsburg 3rd K1 9 September 2017 La Seu d'Urgell 3rd K1 2018 1 July 2018 Kraków 3rd K1 8 July 2018 Augsburg 2nd K1 31 August 2018 Tacen 2nd K1 9 September 2018 La Seu d'Urgell 3rd K1 2019 16 June 2019 Lee Valley 2nd K1 30 June 2019 Tacen 3rd K1 1 September 2019 Markkleeberg 3rd K1 8 September 2019 Prague 1st K1 2021 12 June 2021 Prague 1st K1 2022 18 June 2022 Kraków 3rd K1 25 June 2022 Tacen 1st K1 3 September 2022 La Seu d'Urgell 1st K1 2023 3 June 2023 Augsburg 3rd C1 9 June 2023 Prague 1st K1 17 June 2023 Tacen 1st K1 2024 8 June 2024 Prague 1st C1 20 September 2024 La Seu d'Urgell 1st K1
Complete World Cup results Year WC1 WC2 WC3 WC4 WC5 Points Position 2008Continent 19 Prague Tacen Augsburg 24 93rd 2010Continent 23 Prague La Seu Augsburg 20 81st 2011Tacen 14L'Argentière 6 Markkleeberg Prague 6 115 8th 2012 Cardiff Pau La Seu Prague Bratislava 55 2 100th 2013Cardiff 5Augsburg 6La Seu 37 Tacen Bratislava 93 17th 2014Lee Valley 13Tacen 32Prague 2La Seu 11Augsburg 19 186 6th 2015Prague 1Kraków 15Liptovský Mikuláš 15 La Seu Pau 120 22nd 2016 Ivrea La Seu Pau Prague 1 Tacen 60 42nd 2017Prague 2Augsburg 3Markkleeberg 6 Ivrea La Seu 3 247 4th 2018Liptovský Mikuláš 4Kraków 3Augsburg 2Tacen 2La Seu 3 3041st 2019Lee Valley 2Bratislava 4Tacen 3Markkleeberg 3Prague 1 3191st 2021Prague 1 Markkleeberg La Seu Pau – 60 34th2022Prague 4Kraków 3Tacen 1Pau 5La Seu 1 3171st2023 K1Augsburg 5Prague 1Tacen 1La Seu 28Paris 7 2523rd C13917175 222 5th
References
External links