The 16 events
Men: Straight racing: Canoe (Four events): C1 500m, C2 500m, C1 1000m, C2 1000m - Kayak (Five events): K1 500m, K2 500m, K1 1000m, K2 1000m, K4 1000m
Slalom: Canoe (Two events): C1, C2 - Kayak (One event) : K1
Women: Straight racing: Kayak (Three events): K1 500m, K2 500m, K4 500m
Slalom: Kayak (One event): K1
The format
Straight racing: Qualifying, repechages, semi-finals and final (nine boats).
Slalom: Qualifying over two runs, then semi-finals and final over one run. The times of the semi-finals and final will be combined to determine the winner.
Milestones:
1866: Creation of the first canoe club in London.
1924: Features as a demonstration sport at the Olympic Games in Paris.
1936: The canoe-kayak is officially included in the Olympic programme in Berlin (straight racing event).
1972: The slalom event appears in the Munich Games, but does not make another appearance until 20 years later in Barcelona (1992).
1976: The Olympic programme is given a radical overhaul. As of Montreal, for straight racing, four new events are introduced: K1 and K2 500m, C1 and C2 500m.
Stars
Gert Fredriksson (Sweden): The best. Six gold medals in straight racing between 1948 and 1960, incluing a hat-trick in the K1 1000m (1948, 1952, 1956). Also won seven world titles in K1.
Knut Holmann (Norway): Three Olympic gold medals in straight racing, including a double K1 500m - K1 1000m at Sydney 2000. 4 world titles in K1 1000m (1990, 1991, 1993, 1995).
Birgit Fischer (Germany): The most decorated. Eight Olympic gold medals in 24 years between 1980 and 2004, in K1, K2 and K4. Also won 27 world titles in K1, K2 and K4.
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