Paris 2024: Introduction to Para canoe
Para canoe is the fierce battle of the fastest paddlers on flat water. Get to know more about the sport as we approach the Paris 2024 Paralympics 01 Apr 2024
Welcome to Week 6 of Paris 2024 Sport Weeks. Discover Para canoe, a sport featuring the world’s fastest paddlers racing over a distance of 200m. The sport was included in the Paralympic programme for the first time at Rio 2016.
There will be up to 100 athletes showcasing their strength, technique and determination as they power to the finish line at Paris 2024.
Brief history of Para canoe
Para canoe is a young sport which developed at the turn of the 21st century. The first exhibition event was held in 2009 in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada, at the Canoe Sprint World Championships. Eleven nations participated in the showcase.
One year later, Para canoe had its first World Championships and was included into the Paralympic programme at the IPC Governing Board meeting in Guangzhou, China.
Canoe, along with triathlon, made its Paralympic debut at Rio 2016, with 60 athletes competing over six events. Great Britain topped the medals table with five medals, including three golds won by Emma Wiggs, Jeanette Chippington and Anne Dickins.
While only kayak events were contested at Rio 2016, the Tokyo 2020 Games featured va’a events for the first time.
What to watch in Para canoe
Paddlers race over 200m towards a finish line. But the sport requires more than strength. It also includes technique and balance, as well as stamina.
Athletes compete individually in one of two types of Para canoe boats: kayak or va’a. Kayak is the faster discipline and athletes race with a double-blade paddle.
The va’as have an outrigger attached to one side of the boat to help balance, and athletes compete with a single-blade paddle.
Athletes compete in sport classes based on the type of boat they use and the impact of the impairment in their trunk and lower body on their ability to perform the sport.
Memorable Paralympic moments
There have been many memorable moments since the sport made its debut at Rio 2016. Great Britain was the most successful team in the sport’s first Games, capturing three gold and two bronze medals.
Australia’s Curtis McGrath and Austria’s Markus Swoboda pulled off an exciting show in the men’s KL2 race. McGrath edged Swaboda by 1.536 second to become the first Paralympic champion ever in the event.
Five years later at Tokyo 2020, McGrath topped the podium in both the men’s kayak single KL2 and va’a single VL3. He celebrated two golds in 24 hours, becoming the first Para canoe athlete to win double gold at a single Games.
Great Britain again finished atop the Para canoe medals table with three gold, one silver and three bronze medals. Emma Wiggs captured the women’s va’a single VL2 gold medal in Tokyo after winning the women’s KL2 in Rio.
At age 18, Hungary’s Peter Pal Kiss became the youngest ever Paralympic canoe champion, and the first teenager to triumph in the men’s kayak single KL1. Kiss smashed his own personal best time to finish more than two seconds ahead of Brazil’s Luis Carlos Cardoso da Silva, with Frenchman Remy Boulle third.
Paris 2024 programme
Up to 100 athletes (50 men and 50 women) will compete across 10 medal events at the Paris 2024 Paralympics:
Kayak single KL1 (men, women)
Kayak single KL2 (men, women)
Kayak single KL3 (men, women)
Va’a single VL2 (men, women)
Va’a single VL3 (men, women)
Paris 2024 venue
Vaires-Sur-Marne Nautical Stadium will stage Para canoe and Para rowing competitions at Paris 2024. Located near the Disneyland Paris theme park, the venue was built in 2019 ahead of the Games.
Athletes will race in front of 12,000 spectators in Para canoe and 14,000 in Para rowing.
