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.
Slovakia (7) hold the record for most gold medals in canoe slalom at the Olympic Games. It is the only sport Slovakia has claimed a gold medal in at the summer Games. The only three people to claim more than three medals in the discipline at the Games are all Slovakian - Michal Martikán (two gold, two silver, one bronze) and twins Pavol and Peter Hochschorner (three gold and one bronze). The Hochschorners finished on the podium in the C2M at four consecutive Olympic Games - 2004, 2008, 2012 and 2016.
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. Martikán (15) has won the most world titles in the discipline (individual and team events), while the leading female is Jessica Fox (10) of Australia. A paddler representing Africa has never finished in the top-three at the world championships, but in 2008 in Beijing, Benjamin Boukpeti claimed Togo’s first medal in any sport at the Olympic Games when he took bronze in the K1M.
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