A host of the best dancers in the world right now will show off their style, skills and composition in freestyle, Latin, conventional and standard singles and couples’ class 1 and 2 events. Couples’ events feature two combinations – ‘combi’ where couples consist of one athlete using a wheelchair to dance while their partner is a standing athlete. ‘Duo’ couples both use wheelchairs to perform.

All competitions from the Prague 2024 Para Dance Sport European Championships will be shown live online.

Men’s singles

Türkiye’s Baris Bayraktar is the reigning European champion in the single class 1, claiming gold at the last edition, also in Prague, in 2022. Bayraktar is also a Genoa 2023 World Championships silver medallist from both the singles conventional and singles freestyle.

Pawel Karpinski of Poland returns as the European silver medallist and Worlds bronze medallist in the single conventional class 2, as well as one of the most established and decorated dancers on the circuit.

One of his main rivals is Ukraine’s Ivan Sivak. Two years ago, Sivak beat Karpinski to the top of the podium. The Ukrainian is also a silver medallist from Genoa 2023 in the conventional as well as the freestyle.

Couples

Here a number of dancers hoping to shine in the singles events will try to match that with their partners.

Sivak’s pairing with Olena Dankevych in the combi Latin class 2 led him to the top at the 2022 European Championships and they will join forces once again.

Meanwhile Karpinski and Magdalena Matusiak are the World Championships bronze and European silver medallists in the duo Latin class 2.

Their compatriots Michal Ciok and Katarzyna Nowokunska also shone at the 2022 Euros, taking second in the combi freestyle class 2.

Elsewhere in the class 2 Finland’s Tuuli Harju will dance with partner Timo Pyykkonen in the combi standard class 1 as World Championships silver medallists.

And Italy’s Laura Del Sere and Andrea Barberis are the reigning world title holders in the combi standard class 2.

Also dancing for Ukraine are Snizhana Kernychna, with partner Volodymyr Kernychnyi, who are firmly amongst the ones to watch as defending champions in the duo Latin and standard class 1.

Margalit Tomer and Halaf Orel of Israel will compete as the combi Latin class 1 gold medallists from the last edition.

Women’s singles

A similar quality can be expected in the women’s singles.

Tomer will leave Orel to watch in the women’s single class 1 as she tries to match or improve her silver from 2022. Slovakia’s Helena Kasicka is the world and European champion in the class 1.

Ukraine’s Olena Chynka is the single women’s class 2 title holder who is only one part of a top-class group from her country.

In fact all of the top three from 2022 will go for gold in Prague. That includes Belgium’s Sofie Cox and Austria’s Sanja Vukasinovic, the respective silver and bronze medallists.

Competition at the Prague 2022 European Championships will get underway on Friday (22 November) with the men’s and women’s singles class 1. Saturday (23 November) will see the men’s and women’s singles freestyle class 1 and 2 take place as well as the duo and combi freestyle and standard class 1 and 2.

The duo and combi Latin class 1 and 2 will round off the action on Sunday (24 November) alongside the men’s and women’s singles class 2.