OLYMPIC SLALOM
I started racing slalom back in 1983 and made the USA Team for the first time in 1989 before it was on the Olympic roster . ( Yes , it had a one-time appearance in 1972 , but in 1992 it became a reoccurring event ) Slalom saw a massive shot in the arm from 1988-1996 as countries worldwide had a new Olympic event to rally around , with new sponsors , government support , full-time coaches , new equipment , etc . The amount of focus , energy , money , media , etc ., that went into slalom kayaking back then was likely ten times the amount before the Olympics . There was a downside , but the adrenaline injected into the sport was impossible to miss .
Since 1996 the sport continued to operate at a high level in the top tier of national federations , the artificial whitewater park building craze , and toplevel athletes . However , the sport hit a plateau in participation , and the support was mainly at the top level . It changed the mantra of kids starting the sport from a , “ That kayak racing looks fun , I want to paddle and do some racing ” to “ I am training for the Olympics ”, and as we all know , only one or two athletes from any country will get to compete in the Olympics , every four years . Hence , kids discover quickly that their goal won ’ t be realized , and their initial reason for starting the sport disappears . This is where the sport struggles to grow again .
Now , however , a big shot of adrenaline has been administered to ‘ canoe slalom ’. Extreme slalom is now an official 2024 Olympic Sport . Two more spots on each country ’ s national team have been added . There are Olympic positions for 1 K1 , 1 K1W , 1 C1 , 1 C1W , 1 K1 extreme , and 1 K1W extreme , with 50 % more spots for each country to send athletes to the Olympics and 50 % more spots for the World Championships and World Cups .
What we are about to see is a shakeup in slalom . The skill required to win traditional slalom today is greater than for Extreme Slalom for two reasons . One , fewer athletes training in extreme slalom , for fewer years , and there is an element of luck that doesn ’ t exist in traditional slalom . As athletes begin