How to qualify in Canoe
How canoe slalom paddlers qualify for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics
Canoe slalom at Los Angeles 2028 has six events: kayak (K1), canoe (C1) and kayak cross, for men and for women. There are 82 places, 41 per gender. A country can send at most three men and three women, one place per event.
Places are won for the country in three phases:
- The Olympic qualification ranking (38 places): nine World Cups and World Championships from July 2026 to October 2027, best five results each. The 2026 World Championships in Oklahoma City (20 to 25 July 2026) and two World Cups in September 2026 have already counted.
- Continental qualification competitions in 2028 (30 places): one place per event per continent, including Asia, for countries that did not qualify through the ranking.
- A global qualification competition in 2028 (12 places): two per event.
The United States as host gets one kayak place per gender.
For India, as for any Asian country without a ranking place, the Asian qualification competition in 2028 offers one place in each of the six events.
Places by event (per gender)
| Event | Ranking | Continental (one per continent) | Global | Host | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kayak single (K1) | 6 | 5 | 2 | 1 (K1 or kayak cross) | 14 |
| Canoe single (C1) | 10 | 5 | 2 | 17 | |
| Kayak cross | 3 | 5 | 2 | 10 | |
| Total | 19 | 15 | 6 | 1 | 41 |
Both genders are the same: 82 places. Two universality places are shared with canoe sprint (see below).
Per country: one place per event, three per gender. The place belongs to the country, not the paddler who won it. A paddler can race in more than one event, up to two from one country per event. If a country has fewer kayak cross paddlers than allowed, its K1 paddlers must race kayak cross; the same applies the other way round.
Phase 1: the Olympic qualification ranking
| Rule | Detail |
|---|---|
| Period | 20 July 2026 to 3 October 2027 |
| Lists | Six, one per event, ranking athletes |
| Results counted | Best five of the nine competitions |
| Points (K1, C1) | 1st 1000, 2nd 900, 3rd 840, 4th 800, 5th 790 … 70th and below 100 |
| Points (kayak cross) | 1st 1000, 2nd 900, 3rd 840, 4th 800, 5th 770 … 64th and below 100 |
| Penalties | Did not start or finish 0; disqualified −100; disqualified for bad behaviour (DQB) −300 |
| Order of allocation | K1, then kayak cross, then C1 |
| Ties | The better result at the 2027 World Championships, then 2026, then the better fifth-best result |
The nine competitions
| Dates | Competition |
|---|---|
| 20 to 25 July 2026 | World Championships, Oklahoma City, USA |
| 3 to 5 September 2026 | World Cup, Vaires-sur-Marne, France |
| 10 to 13 September 2026 | World Cup Final, La Seu d'Urgell, Spain |
| 4 to 6 June 2027 | World Cup, Prague, Czechia |
| 11 to 13 June 2027 | World Cup, Augsburg, Germany |
| 13 to 15 August 2027 | World Cup, Lee Valley, Great Britain |
| 20 to 22 August 2027 | World Cup, Pau, France |
| 7 to 12 September 2027 | World Championships, La Seu d'Urgell, Spain |
| 30 September to 3 October 2027 | World Cup Final, Montgomery, USA |
To earn a ranking place, the paddler must be eligible for the Games by 30 September 2027.
Phase 2: continental qualification competitions
Europe, Pan-America, Asia, Africa and Oceania, in 2028, one place per event each.
- Canoe (C1): only countries with no C1 ranking place in that gender can win one.
- Kayak (K1 and kayak cross): only countries with no K1 or kayak cross ranking place in that gender. A country can win at most one of the two (kayak cross is allocated first).
- At least three eligible countries must race for a place, or it goes back to the ranking.
- If a continental competition cannot be held, the ranking decides that continent's places.
Phase 3: the global qualification competition
For countries still without a place in that event, and paddlers who have not already won one. The top two in each event qualify. At least three countries must race for each place.
Host country and universality
The United States gets one place per gender in K1 or kayak cross. If it qualifies there anyway, the spare place goes to the next country on the ranking or at the same competition.
Two universality places are shared by slalom and sprint; the IOC invites requests on 1 October 2027, with a deadline of 15 January 2028.
Where the documents disagree. The slalom document says a country is eligible for a universality place if it is on a slalom Olympic ranking list on 31 December 2027, and points to the sprint document for the rules. The sprint document says the athlete must appear on the sprint Olympic qualification ranking.
Places turned down
The next eligible country at the same phase; then Paddle Worldwide's Executive Committee, from the ranking.
Dates
| Date | What happens |
|---|---|
| 20 July 2026 to 3 October 2027 | Olympic qualification ranking |
| Within 10 days of the ranking closing | Ranking places announced; countries have five working days to confirm |
| 1 October 2027 to 15 January 2028 | Universality requests |
| 2028 (to be confirmed) | Continental and global qualification competitions |
| 8 June 2028 | Last reallocation |
| 26 June 2028 | Entries deadline for the Games |
| 14 to 30 July 2028 | LA28 Olympic Games |
Where to follow it
canoeicf.com publishes the Olympic qualification ranking and results.
How canoe sprint paddlers qualify for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics
Canoe sprint at Los Angeles 2028 has ten events: kayak singles, doubles and fours and canoe singles and doubles, for men and for women. There are 236 places: 117 per gender and two universality places shared with slalom. A country can send up to five kayak paddlers and three canoe paddlers per gender, and two boats per event.
Places are won by the country in two steps:
- The Olympic qualification ranking (79 places per gender), a ranking of countries, not paddlers, in each event. It runs from 20 April 2026 to 31 December 2027 and counts World Championships, World Cups and two continental championships per continent. The 2026 Asian Championships in Hefei (24 to 26 April 2026) and the 2026 World Championships (26 to 30 August 2026) have already counted; the 2027 Asian Championships in Ulsan (4 to 7 November 2027) are the last Asian event on it.
- Continental qualification competitions in 2028 (36 places per gender): Asia has two places in each single boat event and two in each double boat event, for countries without an Olympic place in that category from the ranking.
The United States as host gets one kayak and one canoe place per gender.
Places by event (per gender)
| Event (men / women) | Ranking | Host | Continental | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| K1 (men 1000 m, women 500 m) | 6 | 1 | 8 | 15 |
| K2 500 m | 8 | 10 | 18 | |
| K4 500 m | 44 | 44 | ||
| C1 (men 1000 m, women 200 m) | 5 | 1 | 8 | 14 |
| C2 500 m | 16 | 10 | 26 | |
| Total | 79 | 2 | 36 | 117 |
The Olympic qualification ranking
| Rule | Detail |
|---|---|
| What it ranks | Countries, one list per Olympic event (ten) |
| Period | 20 April 2026 to 31 December 2027 |
| Multipliers | World Championships 1.5; World Cups 1; continental championships 1 (two per continent) |
| Results counted | Best eight, from eight different competitions, at most six on one continent |
| Two boats from one country | Only the better one scores |
| Crew boats | Points only in the Olympic event (K4 500 m for K4, and so on) |
| Single boats | Any single-boat race counts, but only the country's best single-boat result at each competition |
| Points | 1st 1000, 2nd 900, 3rd 840, 4th 800, 5th 790, 6th 780, 7th 770, 8th 760, 9th 750, 10th 720 … 64th and below 100 |
| Penalties | Did not start or finish 0; disqualified −100; disqualified for bad behaviour (DQB) −300 |
| Ties | Points from the 2027 World Championships, then the best single result, then the most recent, then the three most recent |
How the places are shared out (the same for men and women, crews first):
| Event | Places |
|---|---|
| K4 | Top 11 countries, four places each; they must come from at least four continents |
| K2 | Top four countries not already in K4, two places each |
| C2 | Top eight countries, two places each |
| K1 | Top six countries; at most five K4 countries can add a K1 place |
| C1 | Top five countries |
The competitions on the ranking
| Dates | Competition |
|---|---|
| 24 to 26 April 2026 | Asian Championships, Hefei, China |
| 8 to 10 May 2026 | World Cup, Szeged |
| 14 to 17 May 2026 | World Cup, Brandenburg |
| 11 to 14 June 2026 | European Championships, Montemor, Portugal |
| 9 to 12 July 2026 | World Cup, Montreal |
| 13 to 15 July 2026 | Pan-American Championships, Montreal |
| 26 to 30 August 2026 | World Championships |
| 8 to 12 October 2026 | African Championships, Algiers |
| 3 to 6 December 2026 | Oceania Championships, Adelaide |
| 5 to 7 March 2027 | Oceania Championships, Cambridge, New Zealand |
| 27 to 30 May 2027 | World Series, Duisburg |
| 24 to 27 June 2027 | European Games, Istanbul |
| 11 to 15 August 2027 | World Championships, Szeged |
| 2027 | African Championships |
| 16 to 18 September 2027 | World Series, Komatsu, Japan |
| 23 to 26 September 2027 | World Series, Tokyo |
| 4 to 7 November 2027 | Asian Championships, Ulsan, Korea |
| 2027 | Pan-American Championships |
Where the document disagrees with itself. The multiplier list names only World Championships, World Cups and continental championships, but the timeline also lists three World Series races and the European Games. Section D.3.2 says 162 places come from the ranking; its own table gives 158, plus the four host places.
Continental qualification competitions
| Event | Europe | Pan-America | Asia | Africa | Oceania |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| K1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| K2 | 2 (one boat) | 2 (one boat) | 2 (one boat) | 2 (one boat) | 2 (one boat) |
| C1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| C2 | 2 (one boat) | 2 (one boat) | 2 (one boat) | 2 (one boat) | 2 (one boat) |
(Places per gender. In doubles, two places make one boat.)
- Only countries with no place from the ranking in that category (men's kayak, women's kayak, men's canoe, women's canoe) can enter.
- A country can win at most two places per category here.
- A paddler who qualifies in both a double and a single counts once; the country keeps the double and the single place passes on.
- At least three countries must race for a place, or it goes back to the ranking.
- If a continental competition cannot be held, the ranking decides that continent's places.
Host country and universality
The United States gets one place in each of men's kayak, men's canoe, women's kayak and women's canoe, if it races that category at the 2027 World Championships.
Two universality places, in single boats, are shared by sprint and slalom; the paddler must be on the sprint Olympic qualification ranking. The IOC invites requests on 1 October 2027, with a deadline of 15 January 2028.
At the Games
Every selected paddler must start at least one event. A country with two or three places in a category must race at least two events; with four, three events; with five, three events and two K1 boats. Paddlers cannot cross between kayak and canoe.
Places turned down
The next country on the same event ranking, or at the same continental competition; then the best-ranked country from that continent; then any country; then Paddle Worldwide's Executive Committee.
Dates
| Date | What happens |
|---|---|
| 20 April 2026 to 31 December 2027 | Olympic qualification ranking |
| 31 December 2027 | Ranking locked |
| 1 October 2027 to 15 January 2028 | Universality requests |
| 2028 | Continental qualification competitions (Europe 9 to 14 May 2028; others to be confirmed) |
| 8 June 2028 | Last reallocation |
| 26 June 2028 | Entries deadline for the Games |
| 14 to 30 July 2028 | LA28 Olympic Games |
Where to follow it
canoeicf.com publishes the rankings and results.