Events are split between sprint, or flatwater canoes and kayaks, and
slalom, or whitewater, races through rapids. The terms K1, K2 and K4
indicate a kayak race and the number of people in a boat. Similarly, canoe
races often carry the terms C1, C2 and C4.
Men compete in five kayak events, over 500 and 1,000 metres, each distance having
an individual title and a pairs title, while there is also a fours race
over 1,000 metres. There are four canoe events, the Canadian singles and pairs
over 500 metres and 1,000 metres. The slalom involves one kayak singles race and two
canoe races, the Canadian singles and Canadian pairs.
Women compete in just four kayak races, the singles and pairs 500 metres
flatwater, the fours 500 metres and, in slalom, the singles race. They do not
race in canoes.
Kayaks are closed boats that are paddled from a sitting position
with a double-blade paddle. Canoes are open boats that are paddled from a
kneeling position with a single-blade paddle.
FLATWATER
Flatwater races are straightforward races from A to B down a lane 9 metres wide.
Boats are seeded in heats based on performances at the world championships,
with those outside the top 18 seeded according to a draw.
The sprint events start when the starter fires a gun. false starts result
in disqualification. The race ends when the bow of a boat crosses the
finish line and the result declared official only if all paddlers were in the boat
as it crossed the line.
WHITEWATER
The slalom events require canoeists and kayakers to negotiate 20 to 25
gates through fast-flowing water over a 300 metres course. Time penalties are
imposed on those who, among other sins, touch the gates. A two-second
penalty is added if a boat, paddle of any part of the paddler's body
touches a gate. If the paddler misses the gate altogether, he is
effectively out of the race; he can go back and try again but the 50-second
penalty is decisive. The times for each boat in heats and final are added
together, points penalties added in and time is calculated in points so
that the winner is the one with the lowest score: a paddler timed at 1min
30sec who touches a gate once, would therefore receive a score of 1:32.
In Sydney, the course at Penrith Whitewater Stadium is a man-made
U-shaped channel up to 14 metres wide and dropping a total of 5.5 metres between two
levels. At least six gates have to be upstream and are marked with red and
white striped poles. The downstream gates are marked by green and white
striped poles. Just to add to an already difficult situation, the position
of the gates is changed for the finals. Obstructions to create water flow
patterns are chiefly made of stone but the moveable obstructions are
plastic.
