ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships 2023 preview: Full schedule & how to watch the Paris 2024 Olympic Qualifier live
A total of 162 quotas are on the line at the first and biggest Olympic qualifier in canoe sprint ahead of the Paris 2024 Games. Find out which events have the highest stakes, who are the top contenders, and how to watch all the action live.
Canoe Sprint
The biggest five days in Olympic qualifcation for the canoe sprint competition at Paris 2024 are about to start in Duisburg, Germany, which is hosting the ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships for the sixth time.
A total of 162 Olympic quotas will be awarded to the National Olympic Committees of the top-ranked athletes in the kayak and canoe Olympic disciplines.
The competition runs from 23 to 27 August with the first medals to be awarded on Thursday (24 August).
Duisburg is a familiar spot for canoeists. The city last hosted the Canoe Sprint World Championships 10 years ago and the 2023 edition will be its sixth time hosting the competition. Five of those events also served as an Olympic qualifier – ahead of the Olympic Games in Moscow, Seoul, Atlanta, Beijing and now Paris.
Find out all you need to know about the competition in our preview, including the top athletes to watch, schedule of competition and what's at stake ahead of the next Olympic Games.
Qualifying for Paris 2024 from the 2023 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships
The highest-ranked athletes in 10 events will secure Paris 2024 quotas for their National Olympic Committees (NOCs) through the 2023 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships.
The competition in Duisburg is the first opportunity for canoeists to race for quotas in this Olympic cycle with a total of 162 spots available and to be distributed as follows:
- K1 events (for each gender): seven athlete quotas including one host country quota / seven boat quotas
- K2 events (for each gender): 12 athlete quotas / six boat quotas
- K4 events (for each gender): 40 athlete quotas / 10 boat quotas
- C1 events (for each gender): six athlete quotas including one host country quota / six boat quotas
- C2 events (for each gender): 16 athlete quotas / eight boat quotas
All quota places are awarded to National Olympic Committees rather than a specific athlete. An athlete can only secure one quota for their NOC with the NOCs able to enter a maximum of two athletes in each of the individual events at Paris 2024.
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.
Full details of the Olympic qualification system for canoe sprint can be found here.
2023 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships: Top athletes and storylines
A handful of athletes who have tested themselves at the Canoe Sprint World Championships in Duisburg 10 years ago will be back to fight for more medals in 2023.
This includes Germany’s three-time Olympic champion Sebastian Brendel who was a silver medallist in 2013. Despite mulling retirement after Tokyo 2020, the C1 M1000 specialist has forged ahead with more medals at a home world championships in his sights and a chance to atone for missing the podium in his signature event in the Japanese capital.
Traditionally one of the most successful delegations in the sport, Germany also boasts Tom Liebscher who has won two Olympic gold medals and six world titles since making his last worlds appearance in Duisburg as a teenager, and is now one of the team leaders in the men’s K4 500.
That event is expected to be one of the highlights of the competition. Spain shook up Germany’s confidence in winning a third consecutive gold medal in the men's K4 500m in Paris when they snatched the world title from them in 2022.
Led by Saul Craviotto who is hoping to go to his fifth Olympics, Spain currently lead the world rankings in the event with Ukraine in second, and Germany in fifth.
The women’s K4 500 will also be a highly-contested affair. Here Germany is leading the rankings, but Poland, who are second, are close behind and recently beat them at the 2023 European Games.
Karolina Naja is one of Poland’s biggest weapons. The three-time Olympian has won a medal at every Games she competed in and will not miss a chance to secure a quota for her NOC in Duisburg.
Naja won three world medals – two silver and a bronze – on the same course 10 years ago. Can she do even better this time?
New Zealand’s hero Lisa Carrington will also feature in the women's events, racing in the K4 500 and the K1 500. Aside from her three gold medals at Tokyo 2020, the country's most successful Olympian has picked up gold medals at London 2012 and Rio 2016 and will be looking to extend that streak in Paris – with Duisburg the first stop on her latest Olympic journey.
Another canoe sprint powerhouse, Hungary, finished second in the medals table at the world champonshions last year with 11 medals overall and four gold - the same as the golden count of medals table leader Spain.
Most of the Hungarian medallists will be back in Duisburg and trying to regain the top standing that they enjoyed in 2021.
2023 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships: Full schedule and competition start timings
Here is the full schedule for the canoe and kayak finals at this year's championships. All times are local.
The schedule may change depending on the weather conditions.
Friday, 25 August
- 14:04 - K1 M500
- 14:14 - K1 M200
- 14:30 - C1 M200
- 14:38 - C1 W200 - Olympic qualifier
- 14:52 - K2 W200
- 15:30 - C2 W200
- 15:38 - C1 M500
- 15:47 - K4 W500 - Olympic qualifier
- 15:56 - K4 M500 - Olympic qualifier
Saturday, 26 August
- 10:54 - K1 W1000
- 11:04 - K2 M1000
- 11:14 - C2 M1000
- 11:24 - C1 W1000
- 11:51 - K1 M200
- 12:01 - C1 M1000 - Olympic qualifier
- 12:11 - K1 M1000 - Olympic qualifier
- 12:21 - K1 W500 - Olympic qualifier
- 12:30 - C2 W500 - Olympic qualifier
- 12:39 - C4 M500
Sunday, 27 August
- 11:38 - C1 W500
- 11:50 - K2 M500 - Olympic qualifier
- 11:59 - C2 M500 - Olympic qualifier
- 12:08 - K2 W500 - Olympic qualifier
- 12:17 - C4 W500
- 12:29 - C2 X500
- 12:38 - K2 X500
- 14:04 - C1 W5000
- 14:35 - C1 M5000
- 15:05 - K1 W5000
- 15:35 - K1 M5000
How to watch the 2023 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships competitions and Paris 2024 Qualifier finals
The races in Duisburg will be streamed live on Planet Canoe's channel on Recast, the official channel of the International Canoe Federation. Geoblocking will apply in the following territories: Czechia, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Lithuania, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain.
There are also 17 television stations from 16 countries broadcasting the competition.
Brazil – Globo
China – CCTV
Czechia – Ceska Televize
Denmark – Danmarks Radio
France – France Télévision
Germany – Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Öffentlichrechtlichen Rundfunkanstalten der Bundersrepublik Deutschland / Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen
Hungary – Mediaszolgaltatas Tamogato es Vagyonkezelo Alap
Italy – RAI
Lithuania – Lietuvos Radijas ir Televizija
Poland – Telewizja Polska s.a
Portugal – Radio e Televisao de Portugal
Romania – Inception Media
Slovakia – Slovenska Televiza
Slovenia – Radiotelevizija Slovenija
Spain – Corporation de Radio y Television Espanola
New Zealand – Sky New Zealand