Serghei Tarnovski (third left) and NOSC President Nicolae Juravski (right) as part of the Moldovan delegation at the World Cup in Milan
The 28-year-old Tarnovsky was the fastest in the 5,000-meter canoe race – it took him 23 minutes and 41.31 seconds. Jaime Duro from Spain was 2.36 seconds behind our rower. Viktor Glazunov, representing Poland, finished with the third time – 23 minutes 53.73 seconds (+12.42 seconds to the winner’s time).
The Moldovan athlete won the bronze medal on a distance 10 times shorter. Tarnovski crossed the finish line in one minute 47.38 seconds, 0.27 seconds behind the Czech Republic’s Martin Fuchs and 1.11 seconds behind Russia’s Zakhar Petrov, who competed in a neutral status.
The victory in one of the disciplines allowed Tarnovsky to become a three-time world champion (2022, 2024, 2025) in canoe single sculls. The native of Lviv, Ukraine, who has represented Moldova in international competitions since 2013, is also a two-time Olympic bronze medalist (2021, 2024) and a two-time European champion (2024, 2025). In 2022, he was awarded the Order of Honor of the Republic of Moldova.
Moldova was represented by six athletes at the World Championships – besides Serghei Tarnovski, his older brother Oleg took part, as well as Alexandru Tacu, Daniela Cociu, Maria Olăraşu and Elena Glizan.
Thanks to Tarnovski’s two medals, the Moldovan team took the 13th place in the team medal standings among the 29 countries whose athletes won prizes. The first place was taken by the Hungarian team (15 medals, seven of which were gold). The final second place was taken by athletes who performed in a neutral status (Russia, Belarus). They won 13 medals, five of which were gold. The third place went to the representatives of Great Britain, who won nine medals, including four gold medals.
Within the framework of the World Championships 36 sets of medals were played (12 each among kayakers, canoeists and para-canoeists).
