Canoe Slalom 101

Europeans made canoe slalom an international sport with the first World Championships in Switzerland in 1949. The sport made its Olympic debut at the 1972 Munich Olympic Games, was removed for a short period and then added back in 1992 at the Barcelona Olympic Games.

What to Look For:
Slalom race courses consist of 18-25 numbered gates. Green gate poles indicate a “downstream gate” that the racer passes through headed down the course. Gates with red poles are called “upstream gates” and require the racer to loop below the gate, travel through it moving upstream and then turn to maneuver to the next gate.

Slalom Basics:
The goal of whitewater slalom is to race a canoe or kayak downriver while navigating through a course of gates that are hung over different rapids. The racer with the fastest overall time wins. Racers are grouped into classes: men’s and women’s kayak - seated with two paddle blades (K1 & K1W), men’s and women’s canoe - kneeling with one paddle blade (C1 & C1W) and men’s double canoe (C2). Most of the equipment is made of hi-tech composite carbon fiber ensuring that it is light but strong.

Depending on the set course it can take athletes 80 - 120 seconds to complete a course. Athletes must negotiate the course without missing or touching any gates. For each gate a racer does not get their head through or passes through upside down, they are assessed a 50 second time penalty. Every time a racer touches a gate pole an official will add two seconds to their time. Final results are based upon the fastest run. During a competition, racers will run each course twice. For a multi-day event, the first day is qualifications with the top ten boats advancing to the finals the next day.

When watching athletes race, ideally the boat should never stop moving or gaining speed while taking the shortest line possible between gates. The best racers complete the course without missing or touching any gates.
In addition, officials are assigned a small area of the course - approximately three to four gates - to watch for touches or missed gates which result in time penalties. This is communicated to a head official who records the total time penalties for all the racers. These time penalties are then added to the time it took the racer to complete the course creating their total time.