Canoe Slalom World Championships

 

From Axios Sports on 8/2:

Germany dominated the 2022 Canoe Slalom World Championships, which concluded over the weekend near Munich — 50 years after the sport debuted at the 1972 Munich Olympics.

How it works: Canoe slalom is a race against the clock on a whitewater course. Athletes compete in two types of boats — canoe and kayak — and try to navigate a combination of upstream and downstream gates.

• In canoe, the athlete uses a single-blade paddle and is strapped into the boat with their legs bent at the knees and tucked under their body. In kayak, they use a double-bladed paddle in a seated position.
• The type of gate is designated by color (red for upstream, green for downstream). Touching a gate incurs a two-second time penalty and missing one will cost you 50 seconds.

Medal table: France (60) has won the most world titles, followed by East Germany (49), Germany (35), Czech Republic (34), Czechoslovakia (33), Great Britain (30), West Germany (25), the U.S. (25) and Slovakia (25).

The intrigue: A new head-to-head event called extreme slalom, which begins with competitors sliding off a ramp and splashing into the water, could be added to the Olympic program in 2024.

• Contact is very much allowed and it "really is a case of anything goes," per the International Canoe Federation's website. 
• Athletes must navigate buoys and only have a short window to roll their kayaks (360 degree flip). Races take about a minute.

🎥 Watch: Final day broadcast (YouTube)