What is Canoe Slalom?
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: canoes, where the athlete is strapped into the boat in a kneeling position using a single-blade paddle, and kayaks with the athletes seated and employing a double-bladed paddle.
New at Paris 2024 was extreme kayak, where four athletes raced head-to-head on a shortened course, replacing the traditional individual time trial format.
By whom, where and when was Canoe Slalom invented?
Canoe slalom was founded in Switzerland in the early 1930s as a summer alternative to slalom skiing although initial races were on flatwater rather than whitewater courses.
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 first included as a medal event at the 1972 Munich Games and was not seen at the Olympic Games again until Barcelona 1992.
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.
Best Slalom Canoeists to watch
Australia's Jessica Fox, the daughter of former world champions Richard Fox and Myriam Fox-Jerusalmi, finally won her first Olympic title in C-1 after numerous world titles. She also won K-1 bronze at Tokyo 2020 to add to previous medals at London 2012 and Rio 2016. The French-born canoeist is also the reigning kayak cross world champion.
On the men's side, athletes from central Europe - especially Czechia and Slovakia - have dominated. Jiri Prskavec is the reigning Olympic K-1 champion with fellow Czech Vit Prindis holding the world crown. Germany's Sideris Tasiadis is the reigning C1 world champion and a two-time Olympic medallist, taking bronze behind Slovenia's Benjamin Savsek at Tokyo 2020.
