Nick Harding | @nickhdg | Sportscene - The world media storm looms in September as the 2020 Olympic host city selection fast-approaches. It's a question on the tip of everyone's tongue, “who's it going to be: Istanbul, Madrid or Tokyo?' The question ought rather be “which city will do more for the greater good of sport, and more interestingly for us, which will do more for the interests of canoe sport?” 

I do love a good-ol' Olympic-city selection; whatever happens two countries will left disappointed, one faces a mighty bill to live up to its predecessor and guaranteed the result will always get someone's goat up!

As for canoeing all three cities are yet to build both their slalom and sprint venues, this makes this a head-to-head race.

Madrid

Spain is a secure canoe nation with a rich paddle history. Several sprint World Championships  in the 70's were won by the legendary Spanish foursome Herminio Menéndez, Martin Vázquez, José Ramón López, Luis Gregario Ramos.

12 canoe medals have been won since the dawn of Olympic canoeing.

The Spanish had a good medal haul at London 2012: in sprint; David Cal won silver in C1 1000m, Saul Craviotto also silver in the K1 200m behind Ed McKeever with 5 boats qualifying for the finals, and in slalom; Maialen Chourraut earned bronze in the Women's K1 with 3 boats qualifying in all.

The 1992 Barcelona Olympics were held on the flow-diversion La Seu d'Urgell course which hosts World Cup legs every year proving Spain can host the best competitions in the world.

There are currently three artificial whitewater courses in total, one more each at Ponts and Zaragoza, so is another one truly necessary?

Canal de Slalom de La Gavia will have a 15,000-seat whitewater stadium, located 10mins from the Olympic Village and 15 from the city centre,  it will be served by 1 metro and 2 bus routes.
As for sprint at Centro de Regatas de Getafe, there will be 24,000 seats with a further 10,000 spectators lining the rowing straights. 15 mins both from the city centre and Olympic Village the site is only served by 1 bus route.

Details about capacity and features have not yet been released. These technical images don’t give much away do they?

Istanbul

Turkey have never won an Olympic canoeing medal and don't have any whitewater courses either. Canoeing is a relatively new sport in this country which was brought over by tourists in the 80s.

Hosting the Olympics would give the sport its much needed exposure in Turkey; one of the ICF's core values is developing canoeing globally and this is a country that needs a little push.

"Forty-eight medals are given in canoeing in the Olympic Games, but we cannot win them due to lack of support," There are 1,500 canoeists registered with the Turkish Canoe Federation; however; only 400 of them actively participate in the sport”, said Sami Mengütay, Head of the Turkish Canoe Federation [from Todayszaman].

At present not a lot of information about Istanbul's venues has been released.

The Belgrade Forest slalom complex (picture at the top of this article) looks well-executed on the surface, don't you think there is a lot of 'wasted' space in this preview image – the 'Olympic ring lake' seems far too large a practise space and the island in the middle of the loop appears void of any development , trees or spectator areas.

Similarly the Bosporus Rowing Centre is, honestly, more impressive than it probably is. There is a clear flaw with these groyne-like coastal defences – you lose space to build grandstands for spectators so the number of people who can enjoy the event, live, is far less.

Plus, I wouldn't want to be paddling in a storm here, inevitably there is still a real threat of wind exposure unless they build 12ft high walls that become eye-sores.

I am little pessimistic that this new 'coastal' sprint-runway fad will replace inland ones even though it could be comparable to a street or night Formula 1 track that changes things up a bit for the competitors. This Istanbul one would make for some incredible photography!

Tokyo

Turkey's twin, Japan have never won a medal in Olympic canoeing either but they do have a handful of athletes competing at international level – Kazuki Yazawa currently 60th in the ICF slalom world rankings.

Hosting the Games would be a major boost to developing canoesport throughout Asia. ICF President Perurena visited the sprint and slalom sites recently, he said;

“I am happy with what I have seen in Japan. I see Japan’s bid to host the Olympic Games as a step to further develop the sport on the continent; it’s an opportunity for Japan but it’s also an opportunity for canoeing.” [from CanoeICF]

As for the venues, the designs are quite simply awe-inspiring with stunning Tokyo skyline backdrops. This would be the first whitewater stadium in the country and the third sprint regatta course after Nagaragawa and the 1964 Olympic runway at Toda.

Details about capacity and features have not yet been released.

The Kasai Slalom Course would be just in Tokyo's down-town in an area that currently receives 3 million visitors a year, A stone-throw from the Olympic Media Centre, it is designed with nature in mind, being heavily forested is one thing yet the urban location seems to be some-what of place.

The Sea Forest Waterway would be 8km from the Olympic village and right in the city centre. This sprint setting would be memorable, but is creating a mini-Holland blocked off from the sea really worth the expense?

It is certainly innovative, far from the standard in-countryside linear lakes we so commonly see and it is sustainable! It's a green initiative that would double as a public park and world flatwater training ground after the Games, a bit like Valencia's dried up riverbed becoming its central park.

However, there is no training strip at present so let's see how that changes.

...

Rio 2016 is proving nothing short of a hangover for the IOC; the BBC aired a fascinating documentary about its stinted rate of construction and only recently the roof of the Joao Havelange stadium collapsed – no athletics here then for the moment!

The Brazilian ordeal could make an impact on 2020's choice-city; will the IOC choose a 'safe' option – a city with an already established infrastructure of stadia and transport, or will they opt for a 'risk' or a little bit of both. I'll let you decide which is which, here's a summary of their thought-processes.

MADRID

TOKYO

ISTANBUL

Download ‘Sports Turkey:Popularity & Participation of Sports in Turkey’

Which do you think is the best city for Olympic canoeing?

Which city will get the 2020 Games?