Canoe Slalom is one of the two disciplines of the sport of Canoeing.
Venue: Broxbourne White Water Canoe Centre
Dates: Canoe Slalom: Sunday 29 July – Wednesday 1 August
Gold medals: 4
Athletes: 82
Canoeing at the Olympic Games
The first Olympic Canoe Slalom was at the Munich Games in 1972. It came back into the Olympic arena in Barcelona in 1992 and has stayed in since.
How the competition runs
The slalom competition is a timed run down a white water course with up to 25 gates to negotiate. Touching a gate adds a two second time penalty to the run and missing a gate incurs a fifty second penalty – a disaster. Slalom is a time trial and there is new racer starting when one has finished.
Jargon buster
* Eddy: White water feature – turbulence behind obstacles.
* Upstream: Water flow direction opposite to channel flow.
* Downstream: Water flow in the main channel direction.
* Upstream gate: A slalom gate (red/white) to be negotiated ‘upstream’.
* Hole: A white water feature created below a drop.
* PFD: Personal flotation device – a buoyancy aid.
* Two: A two second time penalty given for touching a pole
* Spraydeck: Neoprene kit that keeps water out of the cockpit (‘deck).
* Offset: Zig-zag sequence of downstream gates.
* Part head 50: The whole head has to be in the gate, otherwise 50 sec penalty
* Drop: A fall of water creating fast current and tough eddies.
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