ICF Canoe Sprint Committee activities Q1 2025

Consistency in Canoe Sprint programme 

The ICF Canoe Sprint Committee has discussed the Canoe Sprint programme 2025-2028. The important points to fix the programme in the ICF major events are:  

• Consistent programme 
• Gender balance and canoe-kayak event balance 
• Same events for World Championships and World Cup (Ideally for Continental Championships as well) 
• Saving canoe and keeping C4 

We hope that the new World Ranking System will work well under these concepts and that the Canoe Sprint discipline will be promoted even more towards LA28. 

Olympic Qualification Working Group 

I joined the Olympic Qualification Working Group meetings on January 23 and February 11. 

Whilst the ICF Canoe Sprint Committee is aligned with the spirit of innovation and evolution of Canoe Sprint for the creation of the new Olympic Qualification System by this Working Group, we are continuously proposing to have a good balance between excellence and universality at the Olympic Games.   

• To enhance the communication with the Continental Association, especially the technical delegate of the Continental Championships or the Canoe Sprint Committee Chair of the Continental Association for the fair and better implementation of the continental qualification for LA 28 
• To have good communication and feedback between Continental Federation, NFs, and teams for the better understandings to the qualification system and ranking system  

Success of ICF Paddle Summit 

Regarding the first ICF Paddle Summit in Hangzhou, China, usually we only meet with the Standing Committee Chairs, so it was great to meet with the Committee members as well. This was a great opportunity to exchange our opinions. It was also fantastic that the ICF invited our commercial partners, as they made good suggestions as well. I would like to express my huge thanks to the staff and organisers in the Hangzhou office. We are different disciplines, but we are under one umbrella. I am even more convinced that the ICF is a great organisation after the Paddle Summit. During our Committee meeting in Hangzhou on February 27 and 28, we discussed the evaluation of Paris 2024, the new bidding process for the ICF major events in addition to the discussion of the new Olympic qualification system. It was also great to have discussions with Paracanoe Committee Chair and Marathon Committee Chair in our Committee meeting. The ICF Board of Directors have appointed nearly 110 ITOs from 47 NFs for the five ICF major events. We are expanding opportunities across generations and areas while maintaining gender balance. 

By Toshi Furuya, Chair of the ICF Canoe Sprint Committee