Rowing in kayaks and canoes in the Summer Olympic Games program is divided into slalom and sprint. For the first time these disciplines were included in the Olympiad in 1936 (sprint) and in 1972 (slalom).
Slalom means overcoming a track with a length of 300 m and more in as little time as possible. In addition, the judges take into account the cleanliness of the distance covered by the athletes. It takes approximately 100-130 seconds to travel a given distance.
Boats start every 2, 5 minutes. Their place at the start is back to the rowers' position in the world rankings. Participants of the competition must necessarily go through all the gates, which consist of two poles suspended above the water in an amount of 20 to 25 pieces, and not touch the milestones.
For touching them by an athlete, as well as touching with a boat or paddle, 2 penalty seconds are assigned. If the athlete misses the gate, he will be assigned 50 seconds. The rower has the opportunity to correct his mistake, return and go through the gate. But then a collision with a boat following the trail can occur.
Each athlete runs the distance twice. According to the results of the swims, the time is summed up. Then penalty minutes are added to it. The one with fewer points wins.
Rowers cannot be familiar with the trajectory of the race in advance. They are given the following clues: if the poles that make up the gate are painted white and green, then they are downstream, and if the poles are red and white, upstream. For the final competition, the organizers may change the position of no more than 6 gates.
Boats used for slalom are shorter and wider than sprints. They are very lightweight. The upper part of the canoe is closed up to the rower's waist. Athletes wear waterproof jackets, life jackets and helmets. The position of the participants in the swim in a kayak and a canoe differs: in a kayak they row while sitting, and in a canoe - standing on their knees. Kayak paddles have 2 blades and canoe paddles have 1.
In sprint competitions, participants must maintain a distance between each other at least 5 m. Otherwise, athletes can use the wake generated by a neighboring boat to increase speed when passing the track. In the women's championship, single kayaks, twos and fours are used at a distance of 0.5 km. Men compete at distances of 0.5 km and 1 km for singles and twos, for 1 km in fours, single canoes and double canoes.
Sprint boats are longer and narrower than slalom boats. The kayak in the sprint is complemented by a rudder and a paddle with 2 curved blades.
Sprint races are held in a straight line on 9-meter tracks. Canoeing athletes from above are completely open.
