Canoe slalom sees competitors navigate a whitewater course - up to 300 metres in length - by passing through a maximum 25 upstream and downstream gates in as quick a time as possible.

There are two types of boats:

1. Canoes - the athlete is strapped into the boat in a kneeling position using a single-blade paddle
2. Kayaks - the athletes seated and employing a double-bladed paddle.

New for Paris 2024

Extreme kayak has been introduced -  instead of the usual individual challenge against the clock, four athletes race against each other on a shortened course.

What are the rules of Canoe Slalom?

In the traditional time challenge, courses are designed so leading athletes will complete them in between 90 and 110 seconds. The time penalty for touching a gate is two seconds, while missing a gate incurs a hefty 50-second sanction.

In extreme kayak, also known as kayak cross, the four competitors slide off a start ramp more than two metres above the water and from there it's a race to the first buoy and almost anything goes. Contact with gates and other boats is permitted although missing a gate - or not performing a kayak roll somewhere on the course - results in disqualification.

Canoe Slalom and the Olympics

Canoe slalom was a demonstration sport at the 1972 Munich Games and it was not seen at the Olympic Games again until Barcelona 1992 when it made its full debut.

Up until Rio 2016 there were four events: men's C-1 canoe, K-1 kayak and C-2 canoe (men's pair), and women's K-1 kayak. At Tokyo 2020, the men's C-2 was replaced by the first Olympic women's C-1 competition.

The addition of the inaugural extreme kayak races - shortened to X-1 - swells the number of events to six.

Canoe Slalom Terminology

Kayak: Competitors sit in a kayak and use a double-bladed paddle. Kayaks have a minimum length of 3.5m and minimum width of 60cm, and must not be less than 8kg.

Canoe: Competitors kneel in a canoe and use a single-bladed paddle. Single canoes have a minimum length of 3.5m and minimum width of 60cm, while double canoes must have a minimum length of 4.1m.

Rapid: A turbulent stretch of whitewater, usually caused by rocks or a narrowing of the channel.

Eddy: A current of water running in the opposite direction to the main current.

Roll: An emergency manoeuvre to right an upturned boat, based on the ‘Eskimo roll’.

Gate: An obstacle, made up of either one or two vertically-hanging poles, which competitors must negotiate in the correct order.

Penalty: An added time penalty, of either 2 seconds for touching a gate or 50 seconds for missing it entirely.

Swim: When things go pear-shaped and a competitor exits their boat.

Timeline

The first kayaks were built by the Inuit and Aleut peoples nearly 8,000 years ago, from whale bones and animal skins, with seal bladders helping them float and whale fat used for waterproofing.

Early 1800s - Kayaks arrived in Europe

1930s - Whitewater slalom was invented by the Swiss as a summer spin-off from slalom skiing.

1960 - Whitewater slalom first appeared in New Zealand in the 1960s.

1965 - First recorded canoe slalom New Zealand championship.

2008 - The sport changed its name from whitewater slalom to canoe slalom.

1972 - Canoe slalom made its Olympic debut as a demonstration sport at the Munich Games in 1972 on an artificial whitewater course in Augsburg. It was then dropped as an Olympic sport.

1992 - Barcelona Olympics saw the return of canoe slalom to the Olympic competition schedule and it has been included at every Olympic Games since.

2024 - The addition to the Olympic programme of the inaugural extreme kayak races - shortened to X-1 - swells the number of events to six.