Zuzana
Paňková
Slovakia
·
Canoe Slalom
Date of birth | 25 November 2004 |
|---|---|
Place of birth | Košice |
Age | 21 |
Nationality | Slovakia |
Career start | 2021 |
Disciplines | Canoe Slalom |
Zuzka Paňková, who hails from Košice in Slovakia, practically grew up on the water. Her grandparents put her in a boat when she was six months old, and at six years old she trained for the first time to pilot a kayak between the slalom gates – something which perfectly suited her competitive nature.
Nevertheless, the transition to whitewater didn't go entirely smoothly. "Suddenly, I found myself in the water, where there were cylinders, drums, and I just held on to the rocks and didn't want to get into them for the world. The coach said to me "don't go!" but I replied "but I have to because I'm in training and this is what I want to do!" I fell out of the boat. He jumped into the water after me and it went on like this for about three years, until I stopped being afraid," she recalls of her beginnings with her coach, who is still by her side to this day.
Using mental tactics for sporting success
Her biggest role model has always been Slovak canoe legend Jana Dukátová and the biggest weapon in her armoury is her mentality. She comes from a family with six siblings, and as the eldest, she always tried to be an inspiration to her brothers and sister.
As for many, 2020 was a big challenge for Zuzana. Due to the global health situation, her home association didn't allow the Slovak national team to take part in the European championships, and for the young athlete, this meant slowing down the gathering of experience.
3 golds and a world championship
However, she decided to use it to her advantage. She worked hard on herself and was rewarded with three gold medals (K1, C1 and K1 Team) and one bronze medal from the extreme slalom discipline at the Junior European Championships in Slovenia in 2021. A year later, she also became the junior world champion in canoeing in Italy.
However, what she considers to be her best result so far is the sensational second place from the Senior World Cup event in Pau, France in 2022. She was only 17 years old at the time and managed to defeat some of the biggest names in the slalom world - many of whom are among her role models.
In the 2023 European U23 Championships in Bratislava, Zuzana contributed to four medals for Slovakia, winning silver medals in the C1, C1 team, K1 team, and kayak cross events. She finished fifth in the overall C1 (canoe) standings for the 2023 Canoe Slalom World Cup.
Olympic debut and more championship success
Zuzana made her Olympic debut at the 2024 Paris Games, finishing fourth in the C1 event, narrowly missing the podium by just over a second as the youngest finalist in her category. Won a silver medal in the K1 kayak event at the May 2024 European Championships held in Tacen, Slovenia.
During the 2025 season, she won the first-ever kayak cross individual gold medal at the ICF Junior and U23 Canoe Slalom World Championships in Foix, France. She secured a gold medal in the C1 (Canoe) event at the ICF Canoe Slalom World Cup in Prague, Czechia. And she earned a third-place bronze medal in the Women's Kayak Slalom Final at the ICF World Cup in Australia.
Zuzana's 2026 began equally spectacularly with golds at the Australian and Penrith Opens and the Liptovský Mikuláš Ranking Race, and a bronze at the ICF Canoe Slalom World Cup in Prague.