Olympic Canoe And Kayak History In The 1930s

The 1936 Berlin Olympics saw canoe sprint make its first official appearance at Aubsburg. Racing over 1000m and 10000m distances this was a male only event with a 119 athletes from 19 different countries battling it out. Both canoes and kayaks raced with single and double paddle boats across both distances.

There was also a folding kayak class in both K1 and K2 over 10,000m. These crazy contraptions had a folding wooden framework inside which meant they could pack almost flat into several different for storage and transporting. Sadly this was to be the only Olympics that would feature these hilarious inventions.

Austria and Germany, currently under the leadership of the Nazi party, topped the leader boards with 7 medals each but Austria just ahead at 3 Golds to the host nation’s 2. 1924 demo nations Canada and America also won medals while Great Britain went home with nothing.

It would be a while before canoers and kayakers could meet again at the Olympics as 1939 marked the beginning of the Second World War. Millions of lives were lost and the Games were brought to a halt for more than a decade.

Olympic Canoe And Kayak History In The 1960s

The early 1960s saw fibreglass and nylon boats growing in popularity. The new designs were revolutionary, despite their heavy weight, usually clocking in at over 30kg, canoers and kayakers were seeing big improvements in their performance. By 1968 Hungarian Gold medalist Tibor Tatai was making times of 4:36.14 in the C1 1,000m compared to Czech paddler Josef Holeček who brought home gold with a 4:56.3 win back in 1952.

There was further growth for the sprint programme with K2 500m being added to the women’s events in 1960 and K4 1,000m appearing as a men’s event in 1964. 1960 also saw a one off appearance of the K1 4 × 500 m Relay. Several events were lost too as all of the 10,000 meter races were culled from the programme

Hungary continued to be a strong presence throughout the 60s and the Soviet Union came to the fore, it’s strength credited to being able to draw athletes from it’s massive supply of military personnel and the relatively low cost of canoe training programmes. The 60s also saw Britain staying true to form, bringing home exactly 0 medals for the whole decade.

Olympic Canoe And Kayak History In The 1970s

The 1972 Munich Olympics saw a big change for the Olympic canoe programme as slalom finally became part of the Games. K1, C1 and C2 classes were introduced for the men and C1 for women.

Thanks to the Cold War, strong ideological divisions between East and West Germany were running high with both the Soviet Occupied East and the more liberal democratic West both looking to prove they were top dog.

In preparation for slalom’s entry into the Olympics, West Germany constructed the 14.9 million Deutsche Mark ($24.5m today) artificial whitewater stadium at Eiskanal. As the only facility of it’s kind in the world, West Germany had a distinct advantage in terms of training but East Germany, determined to give the Westies a run for their money, sent undercover agents to map out the site and rebuilt a secret copy of the course in Zwickau. The James Bond shenanigans paid off as East Germany destroyed all competition, taking home every single slalom gold medal.

Despite slalom’s success, the costs for building a whitewater course were considered too high and the discipline then disappeared from the Olympic programme for 20 years!

The Soviets continued to rule canoeing throughout the 70s while Britain, in a completely expected turn of events, still didn’t need any room on their shelf for a canoe medal.

On the boat design front, kevlar and carbon fibre started making an appearance in boat design. With these changes smaller, faster boats were allowed by the ICF (International Canoe Federation) paving the way for brand new Olympic record times.

Olympic Canoe And Kayak History In The 2000s

For the 2000 Sydney Olympics, sprint boat width restrictions were lifted, sparking a new wave of boat designs. With no width limits, the new slimline boats boosted performance throughout the sport resulting in finals like 2008 where the Men’s C1 1,000m final had sub 4 minute times across the board.

Germany and Hungary were the new medal leaders this decade but Great Britain still managed to win 8 medals including its first canoeing Gold as Tim Brabants took the win in K1 1000m at Beijing 2008. Beijing also saw streamlining of a different kind as 500m events were stripped out of the men’s Sprint programme.

In 2004 Olympic kayak legend Birgit Fischer retired. At 42 the German paddler bowed out of Olympic competition as both the oldest and youngest ever Olympic canoe champion. Fischer took her first gold at the age of 18 in K1 500m at the Moscow Olympics and 24 years later retired after winning gold in the K4 500m. During her career Fischer had won a total of eight gold and four silver medals across 6 different Games, making her the most decorated Olympic canoer too.

Olympic Canoe And Kayak History In The 2010s

London 2012 marked the introduction of men’s 200m races in C1 K1 and K2 and the further expansion of women’s events with a K1 200m race. Rio 2016 will also herald changes as it will be the last Games to feature men’s C2 slalom.

London 2012 showcased Britain’s best canoe performance, placing third in the medal tables with four medals including Gold in Men’s C-2 Slalom and K1 200m. Germany and Hungary still top the leader boards but if Team GB builds on this early success the 2010s will be Britain’s most successful decade yet in Olympic canoeing – there are several strong medal contenders in canoe events from Team GB at the Rio Games, giving us high hopes that we can beat the haul from London.

Olympic Canoe And Kayak History In The 2020s

With almost a century of history behind canoeing and kayaking there’s bound to plenty more to look forward to in the Tokyo 2020 games and beyond. Boat design continues to evolve and a new programme agreed by the ICF will give a more even spread of men’s and women’s events. Dropping several men’s competitions such as the C2 slalom and a few of the men’s sprints will make room for more women’s events including the new C2 500m sprint and C1 Slalom, clearing space for new pages to be written in the Olympic canoe history books.

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