Overview

The 2024 Paris Olympics will feature a two primary disciplines of canoeing: canoe slalom and canoe sprint. These Olympics will also serve as the debut of a new event: kayak cross.

The slate in Paris includes 16 events, all listed below.

When to watch canoeing during the 2024 Paris Olympics

Flatwater and whitewater athletes will be ready to race across a combined 10 events at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Canoe slalom events will be held starting on Day 1, Saturday, July 27 and will continue until Monday, August 5. The sprint events will take place between Tuesday, August 6 and Saturday, August 10.

Venue

The Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium will host canoe/kayak and will also serve as the hub for the rowing competitions. Opened in 2019, the Nautical Stadium was the first new Olympic facility to be completed in preparation for Paris 2024.

A rendering of the Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium, home to canoeing and rowing during the Paris Olympics.

Paris 2024

Events

Sprint

• Men's Kayak Single 1000m
• Women's Kayak Single 500m
• Men's Kayak Double 500m
• Women's Kayak Double 500m
• Men's Kayak Four 500m
• Women's Kayak Four 500m
• Men's Canoe Single 1000m
• Women's Canoe Single 200m
• Men's Canoe Double 500m
• Women's Canoe Double 500m

Slalom

• Men's Kayak Slalom
• Women's Kayak Slalom
• Men's Canoe Slalom
• Women's Canoe Slalom
• Men's Kayak Cross
• Women's Kayak Cross

20-year-old Evy Leibfarth headlines the U.S. canoe slalom team in Paris, as she will be competing in all three slalom disciplines (K-1, C-1 and kayak cross). The Bryson City, North Carolina native is an outside contender for a medal, and her best chance will come in the highly unpredictable kayak cross where anything can happen.  Leibfarth made her Olympic debut in Tokyo at just 16-years-old, becoming the youngest American to ever make the Olympics in canoe slalom. 

Joining Leibfarth in the slalom disciplines is Casey Eichfeld of Drums, Pennsylvania. He will become the first American ever to compete at four Olympic Games in canoe slalom, with his best finish coming in Rio where he ended up seventh. Eichfeld actually missed out on Tokyo, but the 34-year-old returned to the 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials and defeated Zachary Lokken--who took his spot in Tokyo--to get back into the Olympic Games. 

In the sprints, the Americans are sending their largest-ever contingent in the sport and all three competitors are natives of Washington state. The group is headlined by Nevin Harrison of Seattle, who won the United States' first ever gold medal by a woman in canoe sprint when she won the 200m C-1 title in Tokyo. The 22-year-old has dealt with all kinds of ups-and-downs since Tokyo including injuries, a coaching change and what she referred to as "post-Olympic blues." If she can re-find her form from Tokyo she is a medal contender, but currently looks like an outside contender to get back on the podium and defend her title. 

Jonas Ecker of Bellingham, WA and Seattle's Aaron Small team will team up in the K-2 500m discipline, and Ecker will be the first American male to compete in the K-1 1000m since 2008. Despite some international success, they are not expected to be medal contenders in Paris. 

The full U.S. team:

• Casey Eichfeld (canoe slalom)
• Nevin Harrison (canoe sprint)
• Evu Leibfarth (canoe slalom, kayak slalom, kayak cross)
• Jonas Ecker (kayak sprint)
• Aaron Small (kayak sprint)