For me the Olympics is all about creating a platform to showcase the abilities of the world’s top athletes across a range of sports. I think the current disciplines represented for kayaking do this very well. Flatwater sprint is kayaking in its purest form and rewards physical strength, power and technique. It would be nice to see some longer races included in the programme to demonstrate the prowess of more endurance based athletes but on the whole it does a good job of providing a spectator friendly, easy to understand event where the fastest paddler always wins. Slalom is also a fantastic demonstration of paddlesport where competitors must combine athleticism with whitewater skill in order to come out on top. At the Olympics there are many issues such as the one-boat per nation rule where you can have a French 1,2,3 at the world championships but only one is allowed to compete at the Olympics which is drastically unfair and cheapens the value of an Olympic medal where participation from under-represented nations is prioritised over allowing those who have committed to training to the level of the best in the world to compete. This and other problems such as the quality of an artificial course are issues for a separate rant, however the concept of canoe/kayak slalom as a test of paddling ability is a very good one and therefore, in my opinion, deserves a spot in the Olympics. Boater-X is not and there are several reasons why this is so.
For me the Olympics is all about creating a platform to showcase the abilities of the world’s top athletes across a range of sports. I think the current disciplines represented for kayaking do this very well. Flatwater sprint is kayaking in its purest form and rewards physical strength, power and technique. It would be nice to see some longer races included in the programme to demonstrate the prowess of more endurance based athletes but on the whole it does a good job of providing a spectator friendly, easy to understand event where the fastest paddler always wins. Slalom is also a fantastic demonstration of paddlesport where competitors must combine athleticism with whitewater skill in order to come out on top. At the Olympics there are many issues such as the one-boat per nation rule where you can have a French 1,2,3 at the world championships but only one is allowed to compete at the Olympics which is drastically unfair and cheapens the value of an Olympic medal where participation from under-represented nations is prioritised over allowing those who have committed to training to the level of the best in the world to compete. This and other problems such as the quality of an artificial course are issues for a separate rant, however the concept of canoe/kayak slalom as a test of paddling ability is a very good one and therefore, in my opinion, deserves a spot in the Olympics. Boater-X is not and there are several reasons why this is so.
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