Slalom canoeing
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Slalom canoeing is a competitive sport where the aim is to navigate a decked canoe or kayak through a course of gates on river rapids in the fastest time possible. It is one of the two canoeing disciplines at the Summer Olympics, and is referred to by the IOC as "canoe/kayak slalom". The other Olympic canoeing discipline is canoe/kayak flatwater.
Each 'gate' consists of two poles hanging from a wire strung across the river. There are usually 20 to 25 numbered gates in a course and they are colored as either downstream (green) or upstream (red) indicating the direction they must be crossed.
Slalom courses usually take 80 to 200 seconds to navigate and each competitor has two runs. Either the best run (for divisions up to and including Division 1) or the sum of the two runs is taken for the final result (Premier Division, Team selection races and Olympic competitions).
If the competitor's boat, paddle or body touches either pole of the gate a time penalty is awarded; two seconds are added to the competitor's time for each gate hit. If the competitor misses a gate completely, displaces it by more than 45 degrees, goes through the gate upside-down, or goes through gates in the wrong order, a 50 second penalty is given.
Slalom boats are low volume and have a thin profile to enable them to get underneath the gate poles. Their low volume sterns allow the boat to slice through the water via what is called a pirouette. Typically, new racing boats cost between $1,200 and $2,500 (or £650 onwards for the cheapest constructions in fibreglass).
Slalom canoeing made its Olympic debut in 1972 in Augsburg, W. Germany. It was not seen again until 1992 in Seu d'Urgell as part of the Barcelona games. Since then, slalom paddling has been a regular at the Olympics. there are four events:
- C-1 (canoe single) Men
- C-2 (canoe double) Men
- K-1 (kayak single) Men
- K-1 (kayak single) Women
For more details on the International rules (and to see the sources for these changes) please see the pdf of the international slalom rules as stated by the International Canoe Federation website: [1]de:Kanuslalom ja:スラローム (カヌー) sv:Kanotslalom