What is Canoe Slalom?

Canoe slalom is a timed event where competitors navigate a whitewater course by passing through a combination of upstream and downstream gates. Each course is different but can be a maximum of 300 metres in length and contain a maximum of 25 gates, with a minimum of six upstream gates. The type of gate is designated by colour, red for upstream and green for downstream. Courses are designed so the leading athletes will complete them in a time of between 90 and 110 seconds, though time penalties can be incurred for touching a gate (two seconds) and missing a gate (50 seconds).

Canoe slalom is contested by two types of boat, canoe (C) and kayak (K). In canoe, a single-blade paddle is used by an athlete who is strapped into the boat with their legs bent at the knees and tucked under their body, in contrast to the double-bladed paddle used in a seated position in kayak. At international level there are four individual events (K1W, K1M, C1W, C1M). The C1W event will make its debut at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, replacing the men’s C2, which had been part of the Olympic program in 1972 and then from 1992 until 2016.

The decision to replace the men’s C2 with the women’s C1 for the 2020 Olympics was taken to ensure slalom met the IOC’s gender equity criteria.

Canoe slalom originated in Switzerland in 1933 as a summer alternative to slalom skiing, and was initially competed on a flatwater course. Switzerland hosted the first world championships in Geneva in 1949 and the discipline made its Olympic debut as an introduction sport at the 1972 Games in Munich, when all four gold medals were won by East Germany. It was a further 20 years before canoe slalom returned to the Olympic Games, but this time as a core sport.

France (57) has won the most world titles in canoe slalom, but combining Czechoslovakia (33), Czech Republic (30) and Slovakia (25) would both exceed that total. Paddle Australia’s Jessica Fox is the most successful female as well as individual (male and female) canoe slalom paddler in the world with 10 world titles to her name. Slovakia’s Michal Martikán (SVK, 15) has won the most world titles in the discipline (individual and team events).

Things you need to know

• Canoe slalom is a race against the clock through a combination of up and downstream gates on a whitewater course.
• The course length and number of gates varies with a maximum of 25 gates and length of 300 meters.
• The course is set with a mix of upstream and downstream gates; each presents a unique challenge for the athlete, significantly testing their ability to read and work with the water flow whilst maintaining their trajectory, balance and speed.
• The direction the athlete must travel through each gate is indicated by colour: red for upstream and green for downstream.
• There are a minimum of six upstream gates on each course.
• Course designers set the gate patterns with the aim of utilising the water features – eddies, waves and stoppers – to create a competitive course. No two courses are the same.
• The course is designed so that the fastest athletes will stop-the-clock between 90 to 110 seconds.
• Athletes can incur time penalties with two-seconds added for a gate touch and 50-seconds for missing a gate.
• International competitions have a qualification round followed by a semifinal and final with only 10 athletes in the final.
• There are six events within canoe slalom with both men and women contesting the kayak and canoe singles (K1W, K1M, C1W, C1M); there is also mixed canoe doubles.
• The Olympic Programme currently consists of four classes K1M, K1W, C1M and C1W.
• The difference between a kayak and a canoe is simple; it’s the number of blades on the paddle and the athlete’s position in the boat.
• In kayak, the paddler is seated and uses a double-bladed paddle pulling the blade through the water on alternate sides to propel the boat forward.
• In canoe, the paddle has a single-blade and the athlete is strapped into the boat with their legs bent at the knees and tucked under their body.

Key milestones

• Canoe slalom, which was originally modelled on ski slalom, began in Switzerland in 1933 on flatwater, but soon switched to whitewater rapids.
• The first Slalom World Championships were held in 1949 in Geneva under the auspices of the International Canoe Federation (ICF) and were a biannual event until 1999.
• Since 2002, the senior World Championships are run every non-Olympic year with Junior and U23 age categories contested annually since 2012.
• In the 1960’s canals began to be diverted from rivers to create dedicated man-made competition runs.
• Canoe slalom was an introduction sport at the 1972 Munich Olympic Games, and became a core sport at the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games.
• The Augsburg Eiskanal course that was used for the Munich Games was the first artificial whitewater course constructed and set the blueprint for modern day competition courses.
• The women’s C1 class was introduced at the 2010 ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships and will make its Olympic debut in 2020 at the Tokyo Games.
• Boat design has changed dramatically since the sports inception with canvas folding canoes replaced by fiberglass and now carbon fiber.

What is Canoe Sprint?

Canoe sprint takes place on a flatwater course and races are contested by two types of boat, canoe (C) and kayak (K). In a canoe, the paddler competes in a striding position using a single-blade paddle, in contrast to the double-bladed paddle used in a sitting position in a kayak. At Olympic level, canoe sprint events are contested over 200m, 500m (both men and women) and 1000m (men) both individually and in teams of up to four.

Olympic History

Canoe sprint made its debut at the Olympic Games in Berlin in 1936 with nine men’s events, with that number reduced to eight years later in London 1948 to accommodate the first women’s race at the Games, the K1W 500m. Canoe sprint has featured in every Games since,

For London 2012, flatwater changed its name to canoe sprint and introduced the 200m distance for the men’s and women’s K1 as well as the men’s C1 events.

The canoe sprint program for the 2012 London Olympic Games and 2016 Rio Olympic Games consisted of 12 events, eight for men and four for women. Tokyo 2020 will see an equal number of events and quotas for men and women for the first time.

Australia has been presented in canoe sprint at every Games, with Hungary (77) having claimed the most medals in canoe sprint at the Olympic Games,

Things you need to know

• Canoe sprint is a race to the line on a flatwater course with international competition set over four distances: 200, 500, 1000 and at World Cup or World Championships additionally also over 5000 meters.
• Races are contested as individuals and teams with up to four athletes in a boat.
• Both canoes and kayaks compete in the sprint discipline and are distinguished on the results sheet by their initial letter C and K followed by the number of competitors in the boat, the gender and then the distance. For example, K1M 200m is kayak men’s singles over 200 meters.
• In a kayak, the paddler is seated and uses a double-bladed paddle pulling the blade through the water on alternate sides to propel the boat forward.
• In a canoe, the paddle has a single-blade and the athlete uses a striding position with one knee on the deck and the other foot forward allowing room to pull the paddle down their preferred side of the canoe.
• In international competition races are split into nine lanes that are allocated randomly in the initial heats; subsequently lane positions are set by qualification time: five being the fastest to qualify, then six, four, three, two, seven, eight, one and nine.
• The Olympic Games is an exception, with races comprising of eight athletes with the fastest two occupying lanes four and five after the initial preliminary shakeout.

Key milestones

• Following the approval of the International Olympic Committee on the 16th May 1934, canoe sprint became an Olympic discipline and debuted at the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games.
• The modern International Canoe Federation (ICF) was established in 1946.
• The 1948 London Olympic Games saw the introduction of the first women’s medals with the K1W 500m class.
• The 2010 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships was a significant milestone for the sport, with the introduction of C1W 200m, an exhibition C2 W500m race and the inclusion of seven Paracanoe events.
• The 200m distance was introduced at the 2012 London Olympic Games for the K1M, K1W and C1M.
• The programme for the 2012 London Olympic Games and 2016 Rio Olympic Games consisted of 12 events, eight for men and four for women.
• Tokyo 2020 will see an equal number of events and quotas for men and women for the first time. Women’s C1 200 and C2 500 will be introduced, while the men’s C1 200 and K2 200 will not be held.

What is Paracanoe?

Paracanoe is the canoeing discipline for athletes with an impairment and races are contested by two types of boat, kayak (K) and va’a (V).

The kayak is propelled by a double-blade paddle, while the va’a is an outrigger canoe which has an ama (second pontoon) as a support float and is used with a single-blade paddle. Both kayak and va’a have three different classes of event for men and women, depending on the classification of an athlete’s impairment, with KL1, KL2 and KL3 for kayak and VL1, VL2 and VL3 for va’a. At international level all paracanoe races are individual events and competed at a distance of 200m.

Paracanoe began as an initiative by the International Canoe Federation (ICF) to allow athletes with an impairment to compete in the sport. The discipline featured with exhibition status under the name paddleability at the 2009 Canoe Sprint World Championships in Dartmouth, NS, Canada, and was given official status as paracanoe at the following year’s edition in Poznan, Poland. Later in 2010, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) announced at a meeting in Guangzhou, People’s Republic of China, that paracanoe would make its debut at the Paralympic Games in 2016 in Rio de Janeiro. There were six medal events at the Games (three men, three women), all in the kayak category.

In 2020 in Tokyo Va’a will make its Paralympic debut, with three medal events – two for men, one for women – taking to nine races overall on the paracanoe programme.

Australia secured all four quota spots for paracanoeing at Tokyo 2020 with athletes able to double up in more than one event.

Paddle Australia’s paracanoe squad secured Paddle Australia nomination in 2020, but will have to confirm Paralympics Australia Team selection in 2021.

International competition exists in Kayak and Va’a events:
Mens:
K-1 & V1 200 Metre (KL1)
K-1 & V1 200 Metre (KL2)
K-1 & V1 200 Metre (KL3)

Womens:
K-1 & V-1 200 Metre (KL1)
K-1  & V-1 200 Metre (KL2)
K-1 & V-1 200 Metre (KL3)