With the official closing ceremony and the medals awarded in Krupa na Vrbasu, the World Rafting Championships „Banja Luka 2009“ was officialy closed  on May 23. In the very beginning of the ceremony the audience, composed of the athletes and a few thousand spectators, was addressed by Mayor and the WRC Organizational Board Chairman, Mr Dragoljub Davidović.
"For the past seven years Banja Luka was a city of sport and youth. I sincerely hope that the athletes from 35 countries, who competed at the Vrbas, will cherish the stay in Banja Luka as a beautiful and long life memory, Davidović said.
Apart from the Mayor of Banja Luka, the visitors were addressed by the Minister of Family, Youth and Sport in the RS Government, Mr Proko Dragosavljević, and by the World Rafting Federation President, Mr Rafael Gallo.
After the medal award ceremony by disciplines and overall placement, Mayor Davidović handed the interim flag of the World Rafting Federation over to Mr Rafael Gallo, who received the flag on behalf of Costa Rica, the organizer of the next World Rafting Championships to take place in 2011.
“It would be next to impossible to repeat what Banja Luka has done during the Championships. Organization of this quality, the huge number of spectators and the media coverage of the rafting sport are difficult to forget. The organization of the next World Championships will undoubtedly be quite a challenge to my country”, Gallo said.
A farewell party in the camp in Krupa na Vrbasu for all the Championships participants followed the official closing ceremony.
After the last competition discipline on Saturday evening, the slalom men, the champion title remained in the same hands. Just like two years before, it was won by the national team of Brazil. In overall placement, the national team of Japan won the silver medal, and the national team of the UK bronze.
New world champion in women`s competition is the national team of Canada. The national team of Japan won the silver medal, and the national team of Czech Republic bronze. The women`s national team of Bosnia and Herzegovina, represented by the rafters from the Rafting Club Canyon from Banja Luka, won the great thirteenth place.
The slalom races that took place under the spotlights on the most modern rafting track in Europe were full of excitement. In men`s slalom the first place was won by the national team of Japan, the second by the national team of Germany, and the third by the national team of the Czech Republic. In women`s slalom the most successful were Canadians, silver was won by the Slovaks, and bronze by the Czechs. More than twenty thousand citizens of Banja Luka were more than thrilled to watch the last discipline races.