The upcoming 2011 ICF Canoe Slalom World Cup in Prague will be the final World Cup of the ICF official season, and it comes one month before the all important Canoe Slalom World Championships in Bratislava next month. At the close of the registration period, entries had been received for 306 paddlers from 34 countries from all across the world. The competition which will begin this Friday, from 12 August to 14 August, will be hosted by the Prague Organising Committee in collaboration with the Czech Canoe Union, and will be held at the Prague Canoeing Center on the River Vltava, Prague - Troja.

The course is on a side channel of the river and has been the venue for several national and international slalom competitions. The Czech team will be lead by double Olympic medal winner Stepanka Hilgertova who displayed impressive results at the Canoe Slalom London Invitational Event, showing that she is still very much a medal contender at the London Olympic Games next year. 

Stanislav Jezek, currently ranked 2nd in the ICF Ranking said,

Winning in a World Cup Series is maybe even more precious then winning the Olympic Games or World Championships because the competition is much higher and in four races everyone has to show what his skills really are.

Because the Prague World Cup will be the curtain closer to the ICF World Cup Series, many athletes are expected to give their all and try to set the standard from which they can build upon in the month leading to the World champion- ships in Bratislava. With Slovenia, Slovakia and the Czech Republic holding leading positions in almost all the race categories, this weekend will be a very important one for each one of the contenders.

In the Men’s K1 event, Peter Kauzer (SLO) has won Gold in every World Cup Final this season, and to prove that he can do it at other international events as well, he narrowly missed the top spot at the London Invitational, which even- tually went to Vavrinec Hradilek (CZE), also competing this weekend in Prague. Kauzer’s fellow countryman Jure Meglic is only four points at bay, and even though he has not won a single Men’s K1 event this season, Kauzer will no doubt be keeping a close eye on this man, after all, there is only one Olympic spot per category per country!

Jana Dukatova’s 8th Place finish at the first World Cup in Ljubljana is a distant memory, since then she has claimed the top spot in every World Cup Women’s K1 event , and is followed by teammate, Dana Mann (SVK) and Corinna Kuhnle (AUT) in the ICF Ranking table. The well placed Czech ladies Irena Pavelkova, Stepanka Hilgertova and Ka- terina Kudejova, all hold Top 10 places in the ICF Ranking and will no doubt be boosted by their home crowd support, which could see them all climbing up the ICF Ranking.

In Men’s C2, the Hochschorner Brothers (SVK) have a an insurmountable 60 points lead in the ICF Ranking, keeping their distance from their teammates the Skantar Cousins who rest in 5th Place. Gauthier Klauss & Matthieu Peche (FRA) are in 2nd Place, while Mathieu Fougere & Thomas Fougere (FRA) and Hugo Biso & Pierre Picco (FRA) are in 3rd and 4th Place respectively.

All Heats begin on Friday with Semi-Finals on Saturday, which will also include the Finals for the Men’s & Women’s C1 event and Men’s K1 event. Sunday will see more paddlers competing in Semi-Finals in the morning and the day (and competition) will conclude at mid-day with the Finals for Women’s K1 and Men’s C2 race.