Canoe Slalom

Canoe Slalom World Championships facts and figures

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• Pavol Hochschorner / Peter Hochschorner (SVK) have won this event at the last three world championships and can become the first pair to win four consecutive editions of this race.
• Pavol Hochschorner / Peter Hochschorner (SVK) already jointly hold the record with four overall world titles in this discipline and can extend this to five.
• The record for consecutive wins by a single country in this discipline is five, held by East Germany. Slovakia can win a fourth straight title to come within one of the record.
• If a French team can win this discipline, France will overtake East Germany for first place in the medal standings for this event. France led the medal count in this event from its inception in 1949 until they were overtaken in 1963 by East Germany, who have held it ever since.
• If a European team wins this discipline, it will be their 16th title in a row, which will match the longest streak of consecutive European victories in this event, set from 1949-79.

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• Defending champion Corinna Kuhnle (AUT) can become the second woman to win this event in consecutive editions after Ludmilla Polesna (TCH), who did it twice from 1961-63 and 1967-69.
• Corinna Kuhnle (AUT) can become the sixth woman to win this event twice overall (not necessarily back-to-back), and first since Stepanka Hilgertová (CZE) won her second title in 2003.
• Austria can equal East Germany in first place on the all-time Women’s K1world championship medal table by winning a fifth gold medal in this discipline.
• Austria can become the second country after Czechoslovakia to win this event at least twice in a row on two separate occasions.
• If France, Germany or Great Britain win this discipline for a fourth time this year, they will join West Germany, Austria and Czechoslovakia in equal second place behind East Germany on the all-time medal table for this event.
• If a German paddler wins a medal, Germany will become the fifth country to reach 10 medals all-time in this discipline, after East Germany (21), France (11), West Germany (10) and the United States (10).

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• Defending champion Daniele Molmenti (ITA) can become the fifth man to win this event twice and the first since Fabien Lefevre (FRA) won his second title in 2003.
• Daniele Molmenti (ITA) can become the third man to win this event in consecutive editions, following Richard Fox (GBR, three in a row from 1981-85) and Fabien Lefevre (FRA – 2002-03)
• Austria and France can break a tie with each other and East Germany and move into outright second place behind Great Britain (8) with a sixth gold medal in this discipline.
• Fabien Lefevre (FRA) will become the first man to win a complete set of medals in this discipline at world championship level if he can win a bronze medal.
• By winning a medal of any colour, Lefevre will become the second man to win four total medals in this discipline, trailing only Richard Fox’s six.

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• There will be a new winner this year as Jana Dukatova, who triumphed in the inaugural edition of the Women’s C1 in 2010, is not competing in this race in 2011.
• If an Australian wins gold this year Australia will have completed the medal set in just two editions. Remarkably, this also happened in three of the four other individual disciplines – achieved by Austria in the Men’s and Women’s K1, and France in the Men’s C1 in 1949-51.

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• Michal Martikán (SVK) will become the most prolific paddler in this event at world championship level if he wins gold. He will join Jon Lugbill (USA) on five gold medals but Martikán will move ahead of Lugbill by virtue of his three silver medals to Lugbill’s none.
• Michal Martikán (SVK) can win his 11th medal in this discipline to extend his record for most medals won in any individual discipline. His 10 medals have come in the last 10 editions, which is, of course, also a record for most consecutive editions with a medal in the same individual event.
• Tony Estanquet (FRA) can become the second man to win this event in three consecutive editions after Jon Lugbill (USA – 1979-83).
• Estanquet can draw level with Michal Martikán (SVK) on four gold medals in this discipline, one behind Lugbill.
• Estanquet can draw level with Jon Lugbill (USA) in total medals in this event by winning a seventh medal here, meaning he would trail only Michal Martikán’s (SVK) 10.
• If a Frenchman wins the race, France will become the fourth country to have won this event in three consecutive editions. The others are East Germany (1961-65), West Germany (1967-71) and the USA (five straight from 1979-89).
• The United States can take the lead in all-time medals in this event. They are currently tied at 16 total medals with two defunct countries, East Germany and Czechoslovakia.
• France is also in the total medal mix in this discipline with 15, and can equal the above three countries by winning one medal or take the outright lead by winning two medals, assuming the USA do not win any.
• By winning a gold or silver medal, France would overtake East Germany into second on the all-time medal table for this event, behind only the USA. A bronze for France would draw them exactly level with East Germany with five gold, five silver and six bronze.

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• France can become the first country to win this race 10 times.
• France (17 total medals) can pull within one of Czechoslovakia (19) for the lead in total medals in this discipline.
• A French win would be the third time France have achieved a streak of consecutive victories in this race. On both previous occasions, France went on to win three titles in a row (1949-53 and 1987-1991).
• The Czech Republic can move into outright second behind France on the all-time medal table in this discipline by winning their seventh gold medal.
• Germany and the Czech Republic are both vying to become the third country (after France and Czechoslovakia) to win 10 total medals in this race.
• Six countries have a full set of medals in this discipline. The Czech Republic (bronze), Great Britain (silver) and Slovakia (silver) could join the list by claiming their missing medal this year.

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• Slovakia can become the third country to win this discipline in three consecutive editions, following Czechoslovakia (1951-55) and the USA (seven in a row from 1979-1991).
• It would also mark the first time Slovakia have won any discipline three consecutive times.
• The United States could win an eighth gold medal in this discipline to pull within one of Czechoslovakia (9) for the overall lead. However, the USA have not won a medal since 1991.
• The Czech Republic and Switzerland can both win their fifth bronze medal in this discipline, which would equal the record held by Czechoslovakia.
• Five countries currently hold the full set of medals in this discipline. Great Britain (gold), Switzerland (gold), Slovakia (silver), Slovenia (silver), Poland (silver) and Germany (bronze) could join the group by claiming their missing medal this year.

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• Germany can become the first country to win this event back-to-back on two separate occasions, having already done so from 1999-2002. Austria, East Germany, Great Britain and France are the four other countries to have won at least two consecutive editions on one occasion.
• The last time Germany tried to achieve this, in 2009, they came fifth.
• Great Britain can become the first country to win seven gold medals in this discipline. They currently share the record of six with East Germany.
• France or Germany can become the equal most successful country in this discipline by winning a sixth gold in 2011. This would match Great Britain and East Germany.
• Eight countries currently hold the full set of medals in this discipline. The Czech Republic (silver), Poland (gold), Italy (gold) and Slovenia (gold) can join them by winning the one medal they lack.

K1 WOMEN TEAM Preview

• The last four editions of this race have been won by four different countries. If this streak is extended to five editions this year, it will be the longest such streak in the history of this race at the world championships.
• Germany can move into third place on the all-time medal list for this event by winning their fourth gold.
• Great Britain can move into the outright lead in total medals in this discipline by finishing on the podium. They currently share the record of 12 with West Germany.
• Seven countries currently hold the full set of medals in this discipline. France (bronze), and Austria (silver) can join them by winning the one medal they lack.

C1 WOMEN TEAM

• This is the first time this event has been held at any significant level.
• The event was scheduled to take place at last year’s world championships, along with the introduction of the C1 Women individual competition, but it was cancelled due to poor weather.
• There are only three participating countries – France, China and Australia.