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Canoe slalom (previously known as whitewater slalom) is a competitive sport with the aim to navigate a decked
canoe A canoe is a lightweight narrow water vessel, typically pointed at both ends and open on top, propelled by one or more seated or kneeling paddlers facing the direction of travel and using a single-bladed paddle. In British English, the term ...
or
kayak A kayak is a small, narrow watercraft which is typically propelled by means of a double-bladed paddle. The word kayak originates from the Greenlandic word '' qajaq'' (). The traditional kayak has a covered deck and one or more cockpits, each ...
through a course of hanging downstream or upstream gates on river rapids in the fastest time possible. It is one of the two kayak and
canoeing Canoeing is an activity which involves paddling a canoe with a single-bladed paddle. Common meanings of the term are limited to when the canoeing is the central purpose of the activity. Broader meanings include when it is combined with other ac ...
disciplines at the
Summer Olympic The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inau ...
s, and is referred to by the
International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swis ...
(IOC) as Canoe/Kayak Slalom. The other Olympic canoeing discipline is
canoe sprint Canoe sprint is a water sport in which athletes race canoes or kayaks on calm water. Overview Race categories vary by the number of athletes in the boat, the length of the course, and whether the boat is a canoe or kayak. Canoe sprints are s ...
. Wildwater canoeing is a non-Olympic paddlesport.


History

Canoe slalom racing started in Switzerland in 1933, initially on a flatwater course. In 1946, the
International Canoe Federation The International Canoe Federation (ICF) is the umbrella organization of all national canoe organizations worldwide. It is headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland, and administers all aspects of canoe sport worldwide. 157 countries are affiliated ...
(ICF), which governs the sport, was formed. The first
World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...
were held in
1949 Events January * January 1 – A United Nations-sponsored ceasefire brings an end to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. The war results in a stalemate and the division of Kashmir, which still continues as of 2022. * January 2 – ...
in Switzerland. From 1949 to
1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school s ...
, the championships were held every odd-numbered year and have been held annually in non-
Summer Olympic The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inau ...
years since 2002. Folding kayaks were used from 1949 to
1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Co ...
; and in the early 1960s, boats were made of
fiberglass Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass (Commonwealth English) is a common type of fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened into a sheet called a chopped strand mat, or woven into glass cl ...
and
nylon Nylon is a generic designation for a family of synthetic polymers composed of polyamides ( repeating units linked by amide links).The polyamides may be aliphatic or semi-aromatic. Nylon is a silk-like thermoplastic, generally made from pet ...
. Boats were heavy, usually over 65 pounds (30 kilos). With the advent of kevlar and carbon fiber being used in the 1970s, the widths of the boats were reduced by the ICF, and the boats were reduced in volume to pass the gates, and boats have become much lighter and faster. From 1949 to
1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democrati ...
, all World Championships were held in Europe. The first World Championship held in North America was held at
Jonquière Jonquière (; ; 2021 population: 60,250) is a borough (arrondissement) of the city of Saguenay in the Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean region of Quebec, Canada. It is located on the Saguenay River, near the borough of Chicoutimi. History Jonquiè ...
, in
Québec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirteen p ...
, Canada, in 1979. It has been a regular Olympic sport since 1992. In 2020 during the Tokyo Olympics, C2 men loses its status as an official Olympic event and is to be replaced by C1 women.


Rules

Each gate consists of two poles hanging from a wire strung across the river. There are 18-25 numbered gates in a course, of which 6 or 8 must be upstream gates, and they are colored as either green (downstream) or red (upstream), indicating the direction they must be negotiated. Upstream gates are typically placed in eddies, where the water is flat or moving slightly upstream; the paddler enters an eddy from the main current and paddles upstream through the gate. Downstream gates may also be placed in eddies, to increase the difficulty, and downstream gates in the current can be offset to alternating sides of the current, requiring rapid turns in fast-moving water. Most slalom courses take 80 to 120 seconds to complete for the fastest paddlers. Depending on the level of competition, difficulty of the course, degree of water turbulence. and ability of the other paddlers, times can go up to 200 seconds. In international competitions (
World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...
, World Cups, World Ranking Races) all competitors complete a first run in the qualification round, called the "heats"; the fastest 20 to 30 boats make it through to the semi-final. The remaining competitors complete a second run, with a further 10 moving forward. The qualifying format is different for the
Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a multi ...
, where each competitor completes two runs and the time of their faster run gives the qualification result. Depending on the number of participants in the event, 10 to 40 boats make it through to the semi-final; this consists of one run on a different course. The fastest semi-final boats, the number determined by the number of participants, make it through to the final, where they navigate the semi-final course once more. Their ranking within the final group is based on the time of that last run alone. If the competitor's boat, paddle or body touches either pole of the gate, a time penalty of two seconds is added. If the competitor misses a gate (for the gate to be considered correctly negotiated, the whole head of the athlete (or all athletes) and at the same time a part of the boat must pass through the gate), deliberately pushes the gate to pass through, goes through the gate in the wrong direction or upside-down, or goes through it in the wrong order, a 50-second penalty is given. Only one penalty can be incurred on each gate, and this will be taken as the highest one. There are currently four Olympic Medal events: * C1 (canoe single) Men * C1 (canoe single) Women * C2 (canoe double) Men (was dropped after 2016) * K1 (kayak single) Men * K1 (kayak single) Women * Kayak cross Men (to be added in 2024) * Kayak cross Women (to be added in 2024) In the 1960s and early 1970s, boats were made of heavy fiberglass and nylon. The boats were high volume and weighed over 30 pounds (14 kilos). In the early 1970s Kevlar was used and the boats became lighter as well as the volume of the boats was being reduced almost every year as new designs were made. A minimum boat weight was introduced to equalize competition when super light materials began to affect race results. The ICF also reduced the width of the boats in the early 1970s. The gates were hung about 10 cm above the water. When racers began making lower-volume boats, the gates were raised in response to fears that new boats would be of such low volume as to create a hazard to the paddler. Their low-volume sterns allow the boat to slice through the water in a quick turn, or "pivot". Typically, new racing boats cost between $1,200 and $2,500 (or $850 onwards for the cheapest constructions in fiberglass). Usually boats are made with
carbon fiber Carbon fiber-reinforced polymers (American English), carbon-fibre-reinforced polymers (Commonwealth English), carbon-fiber-reinforced plastics, carbon-fiber reinforced-thermoplastic (CFRP, CRP, CFRTP), also known as carbon fiber, carbon compo ...
,
Kevlar Kevlar (para-aramid) is a strong, heat-resistant synthetic fiber, related to other aramids such as Nomex and Technora. Developed by Stephanie Kwolek at DuPont in 1965, the high-strength material was first used commercially in the early 1970s ...
and fiberglass cloth, using
epoxy Epoxy is the family of basic components or Curing (chemistry), cured end products of epoxy resins. Epoxy resins, also known as polyepoxides, are a class of reactive prepolymers and polymers which contain epoxide groups. The epoxide functional ...
or polyester resin to hold the layers together. Foam sandwich construction in between layers of
carbon Carbon () is a chemical element with the symbol C and atomic number 6. It is nonmetallic and tetravalent—its atom making four electrons available to form covalent chemical bonds. It belongs to group 14 of the periodic table. Carbon makes ...
,
Kevlar Kevlar (para-aramid) is a strong, heat-resistant synthetic fiber, related to other aramids such as Nomex and Technora. Developed by Stephanie Kwolek at DuPont in 1965, the high-strength material was first used commercially in the early 1970s ...
, or
Aramid Aramid fibers, short for aromatic polyamide, are a class of heat-resistant and strong synthetic fibers. They are used in aerospace and military applications, for ballistic-rated body armor fabric and ballistic composites, in marine cordage, mar ...
is another technique in use to increase the stiffness of slalom boats. In 2005 the minimum length of these boats was reduced from 4 meters down to 3.5 meters, causing a flurry of new, faster boat designs which are able to navigate courses with more speed and precision. The shorter length also allows for easier navigation and less boat damage in the smaller manmade river beds that are prevalent in current elite competitions. Boat design progression is rather limited year to year. Directly from the 2017 ICF Canoe Slalom Rules: *7.1.1 Measurements **All types of K1 Minimum length 3.50 m minimum width 0.60 m **All types of C1 Minimum length 3.50 m minimum width 0.60 m **All types of C2 Minimum length 4.10 m minimum width 0.75 m *7.1.2 Minimum Weight of Boats **(The minimum weight of the boat is determined when the boat is dry. The weight minimums were raised for 2017.) **All types of K1 . (Previously 8 kg). **All types of C1 . (Previously 8 kg). **All types of C2 . *7.1.3 All boats must have a minimum radius at each end of horizontally and vertically. *7.1.4 Rudders are prohibited on all boats *7.1.5 Boats must be designed to, and remain within, the required dimensions. *7.1.6 Kayaks are decked boats, which must be propelled by double-bladed paddles and inside which the competitors sit. Canoes are decked boats that must be propelled by single-bladed paddles and inside which the competitors kneel. There are rules governing almost every aspect of slalom equipment used in major competition, including sponsor advertisement. Some of these rules vary from country to country; each national canoe and kayak governing body publishes its own variation of the rules.


Courses

Slalom courses are usually on Class II - IV whitewater. Some courses are technical, containing many rocks. Others are on stretches containing fewer rocks and larger waves and holes.


Olympics

Slalom canoeing made its Olympic debut in 1972 in
Augsburg Augsburg (; bar , Augschburg , links=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swabian_German , label=Swabian German, , ) is a city in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany, around west of Bavarian capital Munich. It is a university town and regional seat of the '' ...
,
West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...
, for the Munich Games. It was not seen again until 1992 in
La Seu d'Urgell La Seu d'Urgell (; es, Seo de Urgel, formerly in ca, Urgell}) is a town located in the Catalan Pyrenees in Spain. La Seu d'Urgell is also the capital of the comarca Alt Urgell, head of the judicial district of la Seu d'Urgell and the seat of B ...
as part of the
1992 Olympics 1992 Olympics may refer to: *1992 Summer Olympics, which were held in Barcelona, Spain *1992 Winter Olympics ) , nations = 64 , athletes = 1,801 (1313 men, 488 women) , events = 57 in 6 sports (12 disciplines) , opening = 8 ...
in
Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ...
,
Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' ( Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...
. Since then, slalom paddling has been a regular Olympic event in the following locations: * 1972:
Augsburg Augsburg (; bar , Augschburg , links=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swabian_German , label=Swabian German, , ) is a city in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany, around west of Bavarian capital Munich. It is a university town and regional seat of the '' ...
, West Germany * 1992:
La Seu d'Urgell La Seu d'Urgell (; es, Seo de Urgel, formerly in ca, Urgell}) is a town located in the Catalan Pyrenees in Spain. La Seu d'Urgell is also the capital of the comarca Alt Urgell, head of the judicial district of la Seu d'Urgell and the seat of B ...
, Spain * 1996: Ocoee River, United States * 2000: Penrith, Australia * 2004:
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, Greece * 2008: Shunyi, Beijing, China * 2012:
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, UK * 2016:
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, Brazil * 2020:
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, Japan * 2024: Vaires-sur-Marne,
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, France * 2028: Sepulveda Dam,
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, United States * 2032: TBA,
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, Australia The 1972 Olympics in Augsburg were held on an artificial whitewater course. The Augsburg
Eiskanal The ''Augsburg Eiskanal'' is an artificial whitewater river in Augsburg, Germany, constructed as the canoe slalom venue for the 1972 Summer Olympics in nearby Munich. The first artificial whitewater course of its kind, it introduced the sport o ...
set the stage for the future of artificial course creation. With the exception of the altered river bed of the Ocoee River in 1996, every Olympic venue has been a manmade concrete channel. Since the late 1980s, artificial course creation has surged; now most countries that field Olympic slalom teams have more than one artificial course to train on. Artificial river creation has evolved and new courses have fewer issues than some of the initial designs.


See also

* Canoe Slalom World Cup * ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships * Canoeing at the Summer Olympics * Wildwater canoeing * List of artificial whitewater courses
Results Archive


References


External links


International Canoe Federation

International Slalom Rules

Latest ICF Slalom ResultsSlalom: American Canoe AssociationCanoe Slalom UK
{{Authority control Canoeing disciplines Canoe slalom