Flat-water Canoeing at 2008 Summer Games: Canoeing is a sport event, where a canoe or kayak is paddled using only human muscle power. The history of the canoe and kayak can be traced back to thousands of years, when native people used these boats to travel, hunt and fish. In modern canoeing sport, both canoes and kayaks may be closed-decked. The International Canoe Federation (ICF) is the governing body of canoeing at the international level.
In the flat-water canoeing events, the race is held on a straight course. The race is contested at three distances-200 meter, 500 meter and 1000 meter. Separate lanes are used for each canoes or kayaks. There are various events contested by men and women in the flat-water canoeing event.
Flat-water Canoeing in the Summer Games: Flat-water canoeing was held as a demonstration sport at the 1924 Paris Summer Games. The event got the status of a full medal sport in the 1936 Berlin Olympics. Women contest only in kayak. Men contest in both canoe and kayak.
Categories of Flat-water Canoeing: The categories of flat-water canoeing events included in the Olympic schedule are-
Rules of Flat-water Canoeing: The International Canoe Federation or ICF is authorized to set rules for the flat-water canoeing event. Some of the rules followed during the international competitions are-
Medal winners in Flat-water Canoeing: Andreas Dittmer, David Cal Figueroa, Maxim Opalev, Attila Vajda, Adam van Koeverden, Nathan Baggaley, Ian Wynne, Eirik Veras Larsen, Ben Fouhy, Ivans Klementjevs, Josef Holecek and Gyorgy Kolonics are some of the leading male canoers in the field of flat-water canoeing competition. Some of the female canoers Natasa Janic, Josefa Idem Guerrini, Caroline Brunet, Elena Kaliska, Rebecca Giddens, Josefa Idem, Caroline Brunet, Rita Koban, Helen Reeves and Stepanka Hilgertova.
