Canoe World Championships

Finnish postage stamp for the 1973 Tampere World Canoeing Championships

Canoe World Championships are held by the International Canoe Federation (ICF) in a total of eight canoe disciplines . These take place at different locations and at different rhythms. The first canoe world championship was the canoe racing world championships in Vaxholm ( Sweden ) in 1938 .

Since titles are always awarded in several disciplines at canoe world championships, the plural term world championships and not the singular form world championships is usually used.

The largest canoeing world championship to date, in which 94 nations participated, was the 39th canoe racing world championship in 2011 in Szeged . So far, most of the canoe world championships have taken place in Duisburg.

Disciplines

The ICF organizes world championships in the following eight canoe disciplines:

Canoe racing

World championships in canoe racing are held annually with the exception of the year with the Olympic Games . Titles are awarded in 30 disciplines: One kayak (K1) for men and women over 200, 500, 1000 and 2000 meters, two-man kayak (K2) for men and women over 200, 500 and 1000 meters, four -person kayaks Kayak (K4) for women over 500 meters and men over 1000 meters as well as single canoes (C1) for men over 200, 500, 1000 and 2000 meters and women over 200 meters, two-person canoes (C2) for men over 200 , 500, 1000 meters and women over 500 meters, four-man Canadians (C4) men over 1000 meters, as well as relays of men in (K1) and (C1) as well as women in (K1) over 200 meters each. The first canoe racing world championship was held in 1938 in Vaxholm, Sweden. The program was last changed for 2018. So far 1038 competitions have been held, Germany including the German Democratic Republic is the record world champion with 218 titles.   

Medal table as of April 15, 2020

space	country	gold	silver	bronze	total
1	Germany including the German Democratic Republic	218	153	137	508
2	Hungary	214	160	145	519
3	Russia	103	55	56	214
4th	Soviet Union	53	79	67	199
5	Romania	53	79	66	198
6th	Canada	35	27	25th	87
7th	Belarus	34	30th	32	96
8th	Sweden	31	38	46	115
9	Poland	30th	90	74	194
10	United Kingdom	26th	25th	19th	70
11	Australia	25th	18th	18th	61
12	Spain	17th	31	36	84
13	Brazil	17th	4th	14th	35
14th	New Zealand	16	11	6th	33
15th	Italy	14th	23	20th	57
16	Denmark	14th	18th	17th	49
17th	Norway	13	14th	15th	42
18th	Slovakia	13	9	10	32
19th	France	11	19th	28	58
20th	Czech Republic	10	26th	18th	54
21st	Ukraine	10	14th	34	58
22nd	Bulgaria	9	15th	25th	49
23	Austria	9	8th	13	30th
24	Czechoslovakia	8th	14th	20th	42
25th	Yugoslavia	8th	8th	18th	34
26th	United States	7th	10	6th	23
27	Lithuania	7th	5	11	23
28	Finland	7th	3	4th	14th
29	People's Republic of China	4th	7th	7th	18th
30th	Serbia	4th	6th	0	10
31	Portugal	4th	3	5	12
32	Cuba	3	9	8th	20th
33	Azerbaijan	3	5	1	9
34	Uzbekistan	2	4th	7th	13
35	Latvia	2	-	1	3
36	Belgium	1	3	2	6th
37	Israel	1	1	2	4th
38	Mexico	1	-	2	3
39	Tahiti	1	-	-	1
40	Netherlands	-	4th	4th	8th
41	Argentina	-	3	2	5
42	Slovenia	-	2	5	7th
43	Chile	-	1	3	4th
44	Japan	-	1	2	3
44	Moldova	-	1	2	3
46	Georgia	-	1	1	1
47	Thailand	-	1	-	1
48	South Africa	-	-	3	3
49	Kazakhstan	-	-	1	1
49	Iran	-	-	1	1
49	Ireland	-	-	1	1
total		1038	1038	1040	3116

Canoe slalom

World championships in canoe slalom are held annually with the exception of the year with the Olympic Games . 10 titles are awarded, namely in the single kayak (K1) for women and men and in the single canoe (C1) for men and women and two-person canoe (2) for the men. In each of these disciplines there is an individual competition and a team competition with three boats. The first Canoe Slalom World Championships took place in Geneva in 1949 . The nation with the most world championship titles is Germany (including the GDR) with 103 titles, followed by France with 57 titles.

Medal table as of October 9, 2019

space	country	gold	silver	bronze	total
1	Germany including the German Democratic Republic	103	97	85	285
2	France	57	57	41	155
2	Czechoslovakia	33	45	40	118
4th	United Kingdom	32	19th	32	83
5	Czech Republic	30th	25th	23	78
6th	Slovakia	25th	18th	18th	61
7th	United States	19th	22nd	19th	60
8th	Austria	15th	13	13	40
9	Australia	12	5	5	22nd
10	Switzerland	7th	9	16	32
11	Slovenia	6th	6th	13	25th
12	Poland	5	13	12	30th
13	Italy	4th	5	5	14th
14th	Yugoslavia	2	5	7th	14th
15th	Spain	1	5	7th	13
16	Brazil	1	1	1	3
16	Canada	1	1	1	3
18th	Netherlands	-	2	1	3
19th	People's Republic of China	-	2	-	2
20th	Croatia	-	1	-	1
20th	Denmark	-	1	-	1
22nd	Russia	-	-	4th	4th
23	New Zealand	-	-	2	2
24	Argentina	-	-	1	1
total		353	352	346	1051

White water racing

World championships in white water racing are held annually in the sprint and every 2 years in years with an even year on the long distance ("Classic"). 10 titles each are awarded in Sprint and Classic. The categories are the single kayak (K1), single canoe (C1) and double canoe (C2) for women and men, each in individual competitions and team competitions with three boats per team. The first world championships in canoe whitewater racing took place in 1959 in Treignac, France, on the Vézère . The most successful nation is France.

Medal table as of July 2, 2018

space	nation	gold	silver	bronze	total
1	France	129	108	84	321
2	Germany including the German Democratic Republic	91	105	97	293
3	Czech Republic	40	40	39	119
4th	Italy	20th	21st	29	70
5	Slovenia	18th	18th	20th	56
6th	German Democratic Republic	16	13	15th	44
7th	Croatia	13	8th	4th	25th
8th	Austria	12	15th	9	36
9	Slovakia	12	9	9	30th
10	Czechoslovakia	11	16	16	43
11	Belgium	8th	3	4th	15th
12	United Kingdom	5	7th	17th	29
13	Switzerland	3	10	26th	39
14th	Yugoslavia	3	7th	5	15th
15th	United States	3	4th	7th	14th
16	Australia	1	-	-	1
	New Zealand	1	-	-	1
	Serbia	1	-	-	1
	total	370	371	367	1108

Canoe polo

World championships in canoe polo are held every 2 years in years with an even number of years. There are four competition classes: men, women, men U21 and women U21. The first canoe polo World Championship was in Sheffield in 1994 .

Dragon boat

World championships in dragon boats are held every 2 years in years with an even number alternating with club world championships. The first ICF title fights were in Taiwan in 2006 .

Canoe marathon

World championships in canoe marathon are held annually. The first Canoe Marathon World Championships was in Nottingham in 1988 .

Canoeing

World championships in canoeing are held every three years. The first event was in Vaxholm in 1938.

Freestyle

Every two years the ICF organizes the world championships in kayak freestyle , for the first time in 2006.

Web links

• International Canoe Association