Canoeing at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Men's slalom C-1

The men's C-1 slalom canoeing event at the 2020 Summer Olympics took place on 25 and 26 July 2021 at the Kasai Canoe Slalom Course. 18 canoeists from 18 nations competed.

Background This was the 9th appearance of the event, having previously appeared in every Summer Olympics with slalom canoeing: 1972 and 1992–2016.

Neither reigning Olympic champion Denis Gargaud Chanut nor reigning World Champion Cédric Joly competed; both were passed over in selection for the French team in favor of Martin Thomas.

Qualification

A National Olympic Committee (NOC) entered only 1 qualified canoeist in the men's slalom C-1 event. A total of 17 qualification places were available, allocated as follows:

1 place for the host nation, Japan 11 places awarded through the 2019 ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships 5 places awarded through continental tournaments, 1 per continent

Pavel Eigel also competed, having already earned a quota in the Men's K1 event.

Qualifying places were awarded to the NOC, not to the individual canoeist who earned the place.

The World Championships quota places were allocated as follows:Canoe Slalom Quota Allocation

Rank Canoeist Nation Qualification Selected competitor 1Cédric Joly 1st placed NOC Martin Thomas 2Ander Elosegi 2nd placed NOCAnder Elosegi 3Luka Božič 3rd placed NOCBenjamin Savšek 4Alexander Slafkovský 4th placed NOC Matej Beňuš 6David Florence 5th placed NOCAdam Burgess 7Thomas Koechlin 6th placed NOCThomas Koechlin 9Cameron Smedley 7th placed NOCCameron Smedley 10Grzegorz Hedwig 8th placed NOCGrzegorz Hedwig 11Robert Hendrick 9th placed NOC Liam Jegou 12Matija Marinić 10th placed NOCMatija Marinić 13Vojtěch Heger 11th placed NOCLukáš Rohan 34Pavel Eigel Earned quota in K1Pavel Eigel

Continental and other places:

Nation Canoeist Qualification Selected competitor - Host nationTakuya HanedaDaniel Watkins Oceania quotaDaniel WatkinsSideris Tasiadis Europe quotaSideris TasiadisAlexandr Kulikov Asia quotaAlexandr KulikovJean-Pierre Bourhis Africa quotaJean-Pierre Bourhis Casey Eichfeld Americas quotaZachary Lokken

Notes The quota for the Americas was allocated to the NOC with the highest-ranked eligible athlete, due to the cancellation of the 2021 Pan American Championships.

Competition format Slalom canoeing uses a three-round format, with heats, semifinal, and final. In the heats, each canoeist has two runs at the course with the better time counting. The top 15 advance to the semifinal. In the semifinal, the canoeists get a single run; the top 10 advance to the final. The best time in the single-run final wins gold.

The canoe course is approximately 250 metres long, with up to 25 gates that the canoeist must pass in the correct direction. Penalty time is added for infractions such as passing on the wrong side or touching a gate. Runs typically last approximately 95 seconds.

Schedule All times are Japan Standard Time (UTC+9)

The men's slalom C-1 took place over two consecutive days.

Date Time Round Sunday, 25 July 2021 13:00 Heats Monday, 26 July 2021 14:00  SemifinalFinal

Results RankBibCanoeistNationPreliminary HeatsSemifinalFinal1st Ride2nd RideBestOrderTimeOrderTimeOrder 3 Benjamin Savšek 98.82 2 105.87 4 98.82 2 104.26 2 5 98.25 0 1 8 Lukáš Rohan 103.98 2 102.15 2 102.15 8 103.68 2 4 101.96 2 2 1 Sideris Tasiadis 100.69 0 101.23 0 100.69 6 105.35 2 6 103.70 0 3 4 4 Adam Burgess 99.82 0 99.64 2 99.64 3 106.18 2 8 103.86 0 4 5 5 Martin Thomas 102.75 2 102.83 4 102.75 9 100.65 0 1 104.98 0 5 6 2 Matej Beňuš 99.61 0 96.89 0 96.89 1 106.40 2 9 105.60 2 6 7 14 Zachary Lokken 99.74 0 166.94 6 99.74 4 105.97 2 7 106.08 2 7 8 7 Ander Elosegi 103.78 4 101.51 0 101.51 7 103.15 2 3 106.59 2 8 9 12 Daniel Watkins 158.43 54 103.07 2 103.07 10 101.28 0 2 108.18 2 9 10 13 Takuya Haneda 106.57 0 105.15 2 105.15 13 107.82 0 10 109.30 4 10 11 10 Matija Marinić 100.33 0 101.66 2 100.33 5 109.94 2 11 did not advance 12 17 Alexandr Kulikov 109.95 2 107.43 2 107.43 15 110.23 2 12 did not advance 13 9 Thomas Koechlin 105.66 4 104.57 0 104.57 12 111.20 6 13 did not advance 14 6 Grzegorz Hedwig 109.09 6 105.95 4 105.95 14 112.16 4 14 did not advance 15 11 Liam Jegou 174.57 50 104.40 2 104.40 11 208.39 100 15 did not advance 16 15 Cameron Smedley 161.07 54 108.12 4 108.12 16 did not advance 17 16 Jean-Pierre Bourhis 111.16 2 110.93 0 110.93 17 did not advance 18 18 Pavel Eigel 119.60 4 119.60 18 did not advance

References