2024 ICF Canoe Slalom World Cup Prague: Preview, Schedule, How to Watch Live
The 2024 ICF Canoe Slalom World Cup will head to Prague, Czechia for a consequential second round from 6-9 June.
Many of the world’s best canoe slalom athletes will be in attendance as they seek vital competition opportunities ahead of the Olympic Games Paris 2024.
Of course, competition experience won’t be the sole motivation for athletes in Prague. A total of six Olympic quota places will also be on offer in the rough and tumble event of kayak cross.
The dynamic, adrenaline-inducing event sees paddlers race head-to-head down a whitewater course with slalom gates, a kayak roll zone and an aerial start ramp. Paris 2024 will mark the Olympic debut of both the men’s and women’s kayak cross events.
Read on to find out more about the top athletes, competition schedule, and how to watch the 2024 ICF Canoe Slalom World Cup Prague.
As National Olympic Committees have the exclusive authority for the representation of their respective countries at the Olympic Games, athletes' participation at the Paris Games depends on their NOC selecting them to represent their delegation at Paris 2024.
A view of the starting line in the women's kayak cross during the 2023 ICF Canoe Slalom World Cup.
How can quota places be obtained at the 2024 ICF Canoe Slalom World Cup Prague?
There will be a total of six quota places, three per gender, available at the 2024 ICF Canoe Slalom World Cup Prague. Athletes who have already secured a canoe slalom quota place for their national Olympic committees (NOC) will be ineligible to obtain another quota place in kayak cross events.
NOCs will be allowed to enter three paddlers in the men’s and women’s kayak cross events, but only one paddler may obtain a quota place in each event. The top three eligible paddlers in both the men’s and women’s kayak cross events will secure a quota place for their NOC.
Athletes and NOCs must also satisfy minimum eligibility requirements, which include abiding by the rules of the Olympic Charter and competing at last year’s world championships or one of the continental qualification events, to be eligible to obtain quota places for Paris 2024.
Top athletes fight for podium places in Prague
With both world champions ineligible to earn quotas in Prague, the competition will be even more tense as athletes attempt to use their absence to occupy one of the top three places in each gender.
Camille Prigent will certainly fancy her chances in the women’s event. The French paddler raced to a silver medal at last year’s world championships, and already has one world cup silver medal in kayak cross to her name this season.
The 26 year-old has never competed at the Olympic Games, but she did win a gold medal in the obstacle slalom at the Youth Olympic Games Nanjing 2014. She will likely call upon that experience while navigating tense elimination rounds in Prague.
Her teammate Mathurin Madore will also take to the water as a podium contender in Prague. The 27 year-old paddler overcame an accidental kayak roll to win the first world cup of the season in Augsburg, Germany.
Madore, like his teammate, has never been to the Olympic Games, meaning the 2024 ICF Canoe Slalom World Cup Prague could be a memorable weekend for the French team. Nonetheless, kayak cross remains a notoriously unpredictable event, meaning anything can happen in Prague.
Still, Slovenian and Swiss paddlers will be pleased if the results from the first world cup repeat themselves. Two-time olympian Eva Terčelj of Slovenia will be bolstered by her world cup victory in the women’s event, while world cup silver medalist Dimitri Marx of Switzerland will look to continue his family’s Olympic legacy.
Both will need to be in their best form if they want to challenge Prigent, Madore and the rest of the start list in canoe slalom’s newest Olympic event.
Jessica Fox (AUS) competes during the women's canoe slalom semifinal at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
Kayak cross won’t be the only attraction at the 2024 ICF Canoe Slalom World Cup Prague, the canoe and kayak single events will see Olympic and world champions battle the river and each other for world cup medals ahead of Paris 2024.
Tokyo 2020 Olympic champion Jessica Fox will look for her second and third world cup victories of the season. The Aussie paddler is double trouble for her competitors, competing in both the women’s canoe and kayak events. She has nearly 50 world cup victories to her name across all three individual canoe slalom events, making her an ever present threat to her rivals.
German Olympic champion Ricarda Funk will be among those looking to deny her victory in Prague. The 32 year-old paddler is preparing to defend her women’s kayak single gold medal in Paris. A positive result in the Czech capital will certainly provide her with a confidence boost heading into the rest of the season.
Austria’s Felix Oschmautz will certainly feel confident after his victory in the men’s kayak single at the first world cup in Augsburg. He’ll be hoping for more world cup podiums heading into Paris 2024 as he looks to improve on his fourth place finish at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020.
New Zealand’s Finn Butcher and Slovenia’s Peter Kauzer will likely be his biggest rivals after registering podium finishes at the first world cup.
16 year-old breakout star Ziga Hocevar will also look to continue his string of impressive results in the men’s canoe single, which includes a world cup victory and a European championship.
A compact format may create surprising results across the canoe and kayak single events, however. Athletes will need to be technically proficient, consistent and fast if they want to win a medal in Prague.
Schedule for the 2024 ICF Canoe Slalom World Cup Prague (All times local UTC+2)
Friday 7 June
- 13:00 Women K1 heat
- 13:57 Women K1 semifinal
- 14:42 Men K1 heat
- 15:45 Men K1 semifinal
- 16:49 Women K1 final
- 17:26 Men K1 final
Saturday 8 June
- 08:30 Women C1 heat
- 08:57 Women C1 semifinal
- 09:42 Men C1 heat
- 10:25 Men C1 semifinal
- 11:34 Women C1 final
- 12:11 Men C1 final
- 17:15 Women kayak cross time trial
- 17:57 Men kayak cross time trial
Sunday 9 June
- 09:00 Women kayak cross round 1
- 10:05 Men kayak cross round 1
- 11:25 Women kayak cross repechage
- 12:00 Men kayak cross repechage
- 13:30 Women kayak cross heats
- 13:54 Men kayak cross heats
- 14:34 Women kayak cross 1/4 final
- 14:53 Men kayak cross 1/4 final
- 15:11 Women kayak cross 1/2 final
- 15:20 Men kayak cross 1/2 final
- 15:31 Women kayak cross small final
- 15:37 Men kayak cross small final
- 15:44 Women kayak cross final
- 15:51 Men kayak cross final
2024 ICF Canoe Slalom World Cup Prague: How to watch live
The 2024 ICF Canoe Slalom World Cup Prague will be streamed on the International Canoe Federation YouTube Page. Viewers will be required to pay a monthly subscription fee to access live streams of the competition.