GB Canoeing

What is Canoe Slalom

Bourg St Maurice

Canoe Slalom is the ultimate challenge as paddlers tackle the excitement of whitewater rapids, testing speed, agility and precision. Paddlers must navigate a sequence of gates in number order set up over challenging rapids, waves, eddies and currents on a 300m stretch of whitewater. The gates consist of pairs of poles, if the paddler touches a pole or misses a gate altogether then penalty seconds are added to their timed run (2 seconds for touching a pole with any part of their body, boat or blade, 50 seconds for missing a gate).

Holme Pierrepont, Nottingham

There are Kayak events, for men and women, in single (K1) boats, and Canoe events in single (C1) and for men in double (C2) boats. Traditionally Canoe has been exclusively for Men but there is a growing Women’s contingent and Women’s C1 is in the World Championship programme from 2010.

The Olympic programme in Canoe Slalom comprises the following events:

Men’s Kayak Single (MK1)
Women’s Kayak Single (WK1)
Men’s Canoe Single (MC1)
Men's Canoe Double (MC2)

In the team events, three boats start together and the athletes decide who leads and who follows. The three boats (K1, C1 or C2) follow each other and negotiate the gates in the quickest succession as possible. The time of the run is recorded as the last boat crosses the finish line.

The Appeal of Canoe Slalom
What makes Canoe Slalom so exciting? In brief, the fact that an athlete battles the force of pure nature is what makes the sport so enthralling. The image of him, or her, struggling against powerful roaring waters, eddies, swirls, stoppers, etc. is a distinctive one and because of this, Canoe Slalom translates to the screen bringing spectators close to the river.

What is the difference between canoe and kayak?
In the canoe the paddler uses a single bladed paddle and kneels. In a kayak the paddler sits and uses and double ended paddle.