Rules of the Canoe Slalom Event in the 2024 Paris Olympics

Learn the various rules and techniques of the canoe slalom to better understand this exciting event in the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Canoe Slalom Competition / Unsplash

Requiring critical thinking and quick movements to navigate the roaring waters, the canoe slalom is an exhilarating event in the Olympics. After entering the Olympics for the first time in 1972 in Munich, the canoe slalom has continued to grow in popularity.

Rules and Techniques

In the artificial whitewater course filled with unpredictable water, athletes have the ultimate goal of completing the course in the quickest time possible.

While watching the canoe slalom, you will notice the athletes darting between red and green gates. The course typically has 18-25 of these colored-coded gates in which the paddlers must go through. The color, red or green, dictates the direction the athlete must go. Green gates are to be completed in the downstream direction and red gates are for upstream maneuvers. In the Olympic course, there are a minimum of 6 gates designed for upstream navigation.

While navigating the gates, athletes must take note of their body positioning and proximity to the poles. Touching the gates, moving through them in the wrong direction, or missing them entirely, results in a time penalty. 2-second penalties are given when the paddler touches the gate and a 50-second time penalty is given when the paddler misses the gate or enters in the wrong direction. Along with the gates, there are additional objects in the water that the paddlers must avoid.

The 2024 Paris Olympics will include 3 canoe slalom events for men and 3 for women, including the canoe single, kayak single, and the kayak cross. The kayak cross is a new event in the Olympics and involves 4 competitors simultaneously paddling down the fast-moving water after they complete a 15-foot drop off the starting platform.

In the kayak event, the athletes are seated in the kayak and utilize a paddle with two blades, one on each side. In the canoe event, rather that sitting down, the athletes kneel in the canoe and use a single-bladed paddle. The power is generated by torso rotations.

The overall score of the canoe slalom is determined by the combination of the total running time and the penalty seconds the athlete received.