Eva Alina Hočevar won the women’s C1 overall title at the 2026 ICF Canoe Slalom World Cup, holding off Jessica Fox by just two points. The Slovenian did not even reach the final in La Seu d’Urgell, yet still claimed the crystal globe from the sidelines on a dramatic afternoon.
A capsize that changed everything
Fox arrived needing only a top‑six finish to lock in the crown. The Australian was on course until gate 15, where a mistake flipped her boat. She capsized, recovered too late, and finished seventh.
Hočevar, watching from dry land, was suddenly champion. She had placed 20th in qualification, 7.96 seconds behind Andorra’s Monica Doria. Four penalty seconds in her semifinal run left her 5.21 seconds outside the 12‑boat final.
A first for Slovenia
“It was a rollercoaster of emotions for me today,” Hočevar told reporters afterwards. With World Cup Final points doubled, she followed every split helplessly as Fox’s challenge unravelled gate by gate.
The final standings showed Hočevar on 234 points, Fox on 232 and Tereza Kneblova third on 223. Hočevar is the first Slovenian woman to win an overall Canoe Slalom World Cup title, in either kayak or canoe. A year after missing a medal in Augsburg, the 2026 finale delivered the prize she could not secure with her paddle.
The title came as one half of a historic double. Her brother Žiga Lin Hočevar, 19, clinched the men’s C1 overall crown that same afternoon. Two Slovenian siblings, two crystal globes, one afternoon in Spain.
