Nick Harding | @nickhdg | Sportscene - In an Olympiad of so many gender revelations, canoeing remained unbalanced in London with females losing out 2:1 in the sprint with eight male categories to four and 3:1 in the slalom. Serious questions need to be raised before Rio 2016.

Blessedly, this year at London 2012 both male and female paddlers were given the green light to compete in a brand new solo kayak sprint event; the K1 200m. Gold went to New Zealander Lisa Carrington and Britain's Ed McKeever, referred to in the press as canoe's Usain Bolt.

The men's K500m was withdrawn from the programme, the women's remains which was won  by Hungary's Danuta Kozak.

Briton Richard Hounslow was able to compete in the K1 and C2 slalom disciplines, overwhelmed he stated pre-Games 'the fact that I have been able to achieve my aim of doubling up in two categories with David Florence is a dream come true.' It is highly unusual for an athlete to double up both canoe and kayak especially when there is already such pressure from federations to cap the number of their Olympic competitors.

Across other sports the Games will be remembered for having achieved the ethos of the Olympic Charter; 'every individual must have the possibility of practising sport without the discrimination of any kind and in the Olympic spirit'.

Remarkably thirty four National Olympic Committees had more female athletes than their male counterparts and women were included in the Qatari, Brunei and Saudi Arabian teams for the first time. Britain’s Nicola Adams gallantly became women's boxing's first golden girl, mixed doubles tennis returned for the first time since 1924 and female beach volleyball players were given permission to wear more scantily-clad clothing, rendering Horse Guards' Parade more liberal than Copacabana beach.

The next Winter Olympic Games in Sochi 2014 will see gender equality come another step closer with the inclusion of women’s ski-jumping, albeit it only in the Normal Hill discipline, not Large Hill or Team events. Inclusion was denied at Vancouver 2010 on a decision that elite level competition was inadequately developed. Since then, the International Olympic Committee has encouragingly changed their position where numbers of elite athletes have grown and top-level competitions like the Ladies World Cup, Ladies Grand Prix and Continental Cup have continued to evolve.

If we are striving for true gender neutrality at the Olympics when will the male synchronised swimming and rhythmic gymnastic competitions be introduced?

Canoeing remains the one sport where the gender balance has not been completely resolved. In rowing, there remains an imbalance in that there are currently two more male competitions than female; the Fours and Lightweight Fours. In canoe slalom and sprint, however, the differences are much greater.

Bright Outlook

The gender issue is core to Jacques Rogge's presidency and International Canoe Federation president José Perurena López, has made it clear that resolving the gender is a top priority too. He told Sportscene recently that equality will happen; 'I don't know (about) 2020, but sure in 2024 there will be equality. In Sprint and Slalom.'

Perurena López's unequivocal support follows the intervention of highly-influential French canoeist Myriam Fox-Jerusalmi,  the former multiple world championship and Olympic medal winner, and wife of ten-time world canoe slalom champion Richard, an ICF vice-president.

Pressure for change has also come after a legal challenge mounted by British paddler Samantha Rippington. She challenged London 2012 organisers LOCOG to a judicial review over the exclusion of women's events. In her view equality is not achieved unless women are competing in the same number of events as men. The Royal Canoe Club quoted her saying 'It’s actually incredible, the inequalities, it’s unbelievable! We’re going for the whole Olympic program – not just canoeing. Until everyone realises it’s not fair'.

Rippington won the first stage of her battle for equality and has added weight to the pressure for change in the sport. Visit the Samantha Rippington Facebook page.

Positively, the ICF has invested heavily in women's canoe, deciding to include exhibition events in the 2009 World championships in both sprint and slalom. Athletes from Europe, Asia Oceania North and South America have been achieving success at an international level since then.

The ICF has conducted development camps in both sprint and slalom targeted at young athletes. A Ukrainian graduate of the C1 camps won a medal in C1 women at Euro u23 proving that the strategy is working. Similarly in the UK, talent identification programs run by the British Canoe Union are helping to promote women's kayaking but not canoeing as of yet.

Olympic path

The IOC considers events put forward by sports federations although there is no guarantee of their inclusion.

One reason why women's canoe disciplines are not currently recognised by the IOC is because, quite simply, they have not yet been submitted by the ICF for consideration. Undoubtedly they will be, it is just a question of when and how and at risk of which other disciplines?

ICF President Perurena Lopez explained the problem is in fact how 'we need more quota places if we want to include more women. Without that, it's difficult'. Could such male events like the men's K4 sprint, where there are greater numbers of athletes, be axed to make room for more female competitions? This would certainly meet great opposition from national canoe federations and competitors syncronously. To achieve full equality the mechanics of the situation needs to be fathomed out.

Another cause for the absence of women's canoe competitions at London 2012 was the ICF itself did not include them officially in the Canoe Sprint World Championships until 2010. 

WomenCan International, a pressure group dedicated to advancing the causes of women in canoe racing, outlines what it sees as some principle myths behind the gender imbalance including 1) There are not enough young girls competing globally 2) Women in canoe have not competed in enough high level/international competitions 3) Women’s bodies (reproductive organs in particular) “can’t handle” the stresses of Olympic canoeing.

In response to the first WomenCan "have found there are more teenagers paddling canoe or interested in canoe world-wide, than 'adult' paddlers (over 18)." As for the second, this is a more tenuous statement as in fact the numbers of competing countries is not truly representative of global elite competition: "22 countries from 4 continents" in women's canoe sprint and "16 countries at the 2011 Senior World Slalom Championships." The third has no weight where there is no medical evidence to support this myth.

Summary

In terms of Olympic canoe-kayak practices, there are currently disproportions between the sexes' contests, ethically and logistically. Women's canoe racing titters over the edge of being recognised though. Rumours are sweeping online forums that C1W slalom will be first to be included, with women's C1/C2 flatwater shortly following behind. Worryingly though due to quota limits on the number of events, the introduction of a new women's race could be at the place of a current one.

The programme for Rio has already been agreed. Were there to be any changes to this, they would need to come from the IOC and the ICF alike; the paddle is in both of their hands! The ICF president has said that it will not realistically be until 2020/2024 before full parity is achieved.

Overview women's canoe and female equality in the media: www.sportscene.tv/news/gender-equality-in-womens-canoeing-links-to-media