Ricarda Funk


Ricarda Funk is a German slalom canoeist who has competed at the international level since 2008, specializing in the K1 discipline and since 2021 also in kayak cross.

Career

Funk won the gold medal in the Canoeing at the [2020 Summer Olympics – Women's slalom K-1|K1 event] at the delayed 2020 Tokyo Olympics. This gold medal came after the disappointment of 2016, when she failed to qualify for the Rio games after losing to Melanie Pfeifer in the internal German qualification. By winning the 2021 World K1 title as well as the Olympic K1 gold at the delayed Tokyo games, Funk became the first canoe slalom athlete to win both an Olympic and a World title in the same discipline in the same year. A feat that is unlikely to be repeated since the World Championships typically don't take place in Olympic years.
She also competed at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, finishing 11th in the Canoeing at the [2024 Summer Olympics – Women's slalom K-1|K1 event] and 14th in 2024 Summer Olympics – Women's slalom kayak cross|kayak cross].
Funk won nine medals at the ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships including 5 individual medals. She won her first individual world K1 title in 2021 [ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships – Women's K1|2021] in Bratislava and then retained the title in 2022 ICF [Canoe Slalom World Championships – Women's K1|2022] in Augsburg. She also won silver in 2015 and two bronzes back-to-back in 2017 and 2018. The remaining three medals came from the K1 team events as part of the German team. These include two golds in 2017 and 2022 and two silvers in 2018 and 2025.
Funk won 10 medals at the European Championships, including a gold, a silver and a bronze at the 2023 European Games|2023 European Games] in Kraków. Seven of these medals are in individual events. She was able to win the European K1 title in her first ever appearance at the 2014 European Canoe Slalom Championships in Vienna.
Funk won the overall World Cup title in the K1 class in 2016, 2017 and 2024 and in kayak cross in 2025. As of 2025 she has amassed 13 World Cup wins and 27 podiums.
Funk was the year-end World No. 1 in 2017.

Career statistics

Major championships results timeline

World Cup individual podiums

SeasonDateVenuePositionEvent
201226 August 2012Prague3rdK1
201422 June 2014Prague1stK1
201417 August 2014Augsburg1stK1
201528 June 2015Kraków3rdK1
20165 June 2016Ivrea1stK1
201612 June 2016La Seu d'Urgell3rdK1
20164 September 2016Prague1stK1
201718 June 2017Prague3rdK1
201725 June 2017Augsburg1stK1
20172 July 2017Markkleeberg1stK1
20173 September 2017Ivrea1stK1
201710 September 2017La Seu d'Urgell1stK1
201823 June 2018Liptovský Mikuláš3rdK1
20188 September 2018La Seu d'Urgell1stK1
201915 June 2019Lee Valley2ndK1
201922 June 2019Bratislava3rdK1
201931 August 2019Markkleeberg1stK1
202119 June 2021Markkleeberg2ndK1
20223 September 2022La Seu d'Urgell1stK1
20239 June 2023Prague2ndK1
20233 September 2023La Seu d'Urgell3rdKayak cross
202431 May 2024Augsburg2ndK1
20247 June 2024Prague3rdK1
202414 September 2024Ivrea2ndK1
202513 June 2025Pau1stK1
20257 September 2025Augsburg2ndKayak cross individual
20257 September 2025Augsburg1stKayak cross