Canoe / Kayak

Canoe/kayak Sprint

(It was called Canoe/Kayak Flatwater before January 2009. The name is changed at ICF Ordinary Congress after the 2008 Olympic Games.)

Canoe/Kayak Sprint originally from the Eskimos on the North American Greenland who used the craft as a mode of transport, fishing and battle. They were propelled through the water by single bladed paddles usually made from wood wrapped by animal skin. The aim of canoeing competition is for people to race each other in kayaks and canoes over a clearly defined unobstructed course in the fastest time possible.

Canoeing has been part of the Olympic Games since 1936 (Berlin) for men, and since 1948 (London) for women. Canoe/Kayak became the official competition sport on the 11th 1990 Asian Games in Beijing.

The course for Canoe/Kayak Sprint is on the same channel as the one for rowing, but the course is different. According to the ICF course standard, the course must be at least 1400 long, 120m wide, and more than 2m deep, with 9 lanes of 9m width; there shall be at least one side with a straight strand which is 50m from the nearest buoy lane.

Canoe/Kayak Slalom

Canoe/Kayak Slalom is a competitive sport where the aim is to navigate a decked canoe or kayak through a course of hanging gates on river rapids in the fastest time possible. It is one of the two kayak and canoeing disciplines at the Summer Olympics. The other Olympic canoeing discipline is canoe/kayak Sprint. Slalom canoeing made its Olympic debut in 1972 in Augsburg, W. Germany.

The course for canoe/Kayak slalom is 250m-400m long. It must consist of minimum 18 and maximum 25 gates of which at least 6 and maximum 7 must be upstream gates. The distance between the last gate and the finish line must be no less than 15m and must be no more than 25m.

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