Summer Olympic Sports: Canoeing/Kayaking

Canoe and Kayak events have been part of the Olympic summer games since 1936. Women’s events were added in 1948.

Canoe/Kayak events are divided into two categories: flatwater and slalom. There are nine mens and three womens events in the flatwater competition. Men use one and two-person-canoes and one, two, and four-person kayaks on 500m and 1000m runs. (The four-man kayak race is only run as a 1000m event.) Women use one, two, and four-person kayaks on 500m runs.

Slalom, or whitewater, events were added to the Olympics in 1972. There are three men’s events (one and two-person canoes and one-person kayaks) and one women’s event (one-person kayaks).

For the Beijing games, the canoe/kayak competition will take place at the Shunyi Olympic Rowing-Canoeing Park, located north of the city. The facility has 37,000 seats for spectactors.

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