There are four events on the Olympic program.  Events are designated by a letter and a number indicating the type of boat and the number of paddlers in the boat.  Events beginning with a “C” are canoe events while events beginning with a “K” are kayak events.

Men     Women

K-1      K-1
C-1
C-2

Slalom courses are not standard, but must be between 250m and 400m long and should be navigable for K-1 men in approximately 95 seconds. The course must contain between 18 and 25 gates, strategically set over the length of the course, and six or seven of these gates must be upstream gates.  
The canoe/kayak slalom competition will take place at the Lee Valley White Water Centre, part of the 26-mile long, 10,000-acre Lee Valley Regional Park in Hertfordshire.

London 2012 Storyline:
France’s Tony Estanguet and Slovakia’s Michal Martikan are the two halves of the best-known rivalry in canoe/kayak slalom and one of the best rivalries in Olympic competition today.  It began in Sydney 2000 when Estanguet defeated Martikan, the reigning champion from Atlanta 1996, for the Olympic gold medal.  The rivalry has never ceased, with the two men sharing the podium at each World Championship between 2003 and 2010.

Canada's Outlook:
Canada has never won an Olympic medal in canoe/kayak slalom, but David Ford came closest, finishing fourth in the K-1 in Athens 2004. Ford, who is married to Canadian alpine skier Kelly VanderBeek, has competed in each of the five Olympic Games since canoe/kayak slalom was readmitted to the Olympic program in Barcelona 1992.  He has had his share of success outside of the Olympic Games, winning the World title in 1999 (the only non-European to do so in K-1) as well as a World silver medal and overall World Cup title in 2003.  Ford is taking one more run at the Olympic podium in London 2012.
In the women’s K-1, Jessica Groeneveld was the top Canadian at the 2010 World Championships, finishing 19th.  But she has tough competition for the lone Olympic berth from Sarah Boudens, who was Canada’s entry in the women’s K-1 in Beijing 2008, finishing 19th.

International Athletes – At a Glance:

MEN

C-1

Tony Estanguet – France

• 2000 and 2004 Olympic Champion
• Three-time World Champion (2006, 2009-10)
• 2011 European Champion

Michal Martikan – Slovakia

• 1996 and 2008 Olympic Champion; 2000 and 2004 Olympic silver medallist; the most decorated athlete in Olympic canoe/kayak slalom history
• Was 17-years-old when he won gold in Atlanta 1996 making him the youngest slalom paddler to ever win an Olympic medal; was also Slovakia’s first Olympic Champion as an independent nation
• Four-time World Champion (1997, 2002-03, 2007)

C-2

Pavol Hochschorner and Peter Hochschorner – Slovakia

• Twin brothers who are considered the world’s most dominant C-2 slalom team since 1999, 2000, 2004 and 2008 Olympic Champions
• Five-time World Champions (2002, 2007, 2009-11)

K-1

Daniele Molmenti – Italy

• 2010 World Champion, finished fourth at 2011 World Championships
• 2010 overall World Cup Champion
• 2009 European Champion
• Finished 10th in Beijing 2008, his Olympic debut

WOMEN

K-1

Elena Kaliska – Slovakia

• 2004 and 2008 Olympic Champion
• 2005 World Champion; 2007 World silver medallist

Jana Dukatova – Slovakia

• Has never competed at the Olympic Games
• 2011 World Championships silver medallist
• 2006 World Champion; 2010 World silver medallist
• 2010 overall World Cup Champion
• 2010 European Champion