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The first
association for kayakers as sportsmen was founded on the 19th
and 20th January 1924 in Copenhagen and was originally called
"; eInternationella Representantskapet för Kanotidrott - IRK
(international association for the sport of Canoeing)"e;.
The first European Championships were held on the 19th of
August 1933 in Prague. On the 16th of May 1934 the
International Olympic Committee approved the appearance of
canoeists at the Olympic Games, and this was actually realized
in 1936 at the 11th Olympic Games held in Berlin. The modern
International Canoe Federation (ICF) was established in 1946.
Canoe-Kayak
Flat Water Racing today
The International Canoe Federation today has 106 federation
members. It takes care of supervising and the organization of
Kayak-Canoe competitions at the Olympics, World and
Continental Championships and regional sport competitions
(American, Asian, Mediterranean...).
The program of Kayak-Canoe competitions for Sydney 2000 will
consist of 12 events, 9 for men and 3 for women on flat water
from which there are 5 men's events of 1000 m and 4 men's and
3 women's events of 500 m. All together there will be more
than 200 crews with 275 competitors. From the standard
Kayak-Canoe program there will not be events over 200 m and
5000 m.
The most successful Olympic competitor is the Swede Gert
Fredericson who in his long Olympic career between 1948 and
1969 captured 6 gold medals and one bronze. Canoeing Flat
Water at the Olympic Games Kayak-Canoe on flat water has been
on the Olympic schedule since 1936 for male and since 1946 for
female participants.
Canoeing
Flat Water Racing in Australia
Australian Kayak-Canoe occurred at the first Olympics in their
country in 1956 in Melbourne where they competed in many
events. Back then Walter Brown and Dennis Green won the bronze
medal in K-2 for 10000 m (it is no longer an Olympic event).
More successful were their neighbors the New Zealanders with
Alan Thompson winning a gold medal at the Olympics in Los
Angeles in 1984 for K-1 1000 m. The New Zealand K-4 won a gold
medal in the Olympic Games in Los Angeles in 1984. Also, Ian
Ferguson and Paul McDonald won a gold medal for K-2-500 m in
1988 in Seoul, too.
Flat water in
Lebanon
Lately in Lebanon,
in order to encourage the Flat Water discipline, the LCKF
received a donation of 26 Flat Water boats with their
equipments, from the Iranian Canoe Federation, in
collaboration with the ICF Development Committee Efforts.
Currently the LCKF
is studying two possible sites in Lebanon where this activity
can be practiced, in order to finalize the establishment of
two potential clubs. This step is considered very important,
due to the lack in the people practicing this discipline in
Lebanon.
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