ICF Canoe Sprint Committee activities Q2 2026

Road to LA28 Begins

The door has opened for the two-year pathway for the LA28 Olympic Games. The Asian Canoe Sprint Championships was the first LA28 Olympic Ranking Event and successfully took place in Hefei, China from April 24 to 26. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the city of Hefei, Anhui province Sports Bureau, the CCA and ACC. To include Continental Championships as part of the LA28 Olympic Qualification System is significant to make our sport developed globally. 

Szeged and Brandenburg 

The road to LA28 also started internationally with World Cup #1 in Szeged, Hungary from May 8 to 10 and World Cup #2 in Brandenburg, Germany from May 14 to 17. A total of 684 athletes from 62 nations competed in Szeged and 854 athletes in Canoe Sprint and Paracanoe from 60 nations participated in Brandenburg. We had many crew boats in both World Cups. The number of athletes, crews and nations were significant in both World Cups. With the World Cups incorporated in the LA28 Olympic Ranking System, these events have great opportunities to increase the global appeal of our sport. I would like to express my huge thanks to HOC, athletes, teams and NFs, and all the stakeholders. 

ORIS Meeting at the Olympic House 

The first meeting with ORIS (Olympic Results and Information Services) was held at Olympic House in Lausanne, Switzerland from May 26 to 28. It is truly wonderful that we can work together towards LA28. Huge thanks to the IOC ORIS team, Deloitte, Omega and the LA28 team led by Hoichan Kwon. 

Strategic direction of Olympic Canoe Sprint Programme 

The ICF Board of Directors established a working group to seek the strict direction for the Canoe Sprint programme for the Brisbane 2032 Olympic Games. The working group consists of 11 experts from different fields. Starting with the discussions about the lessons learned from Paris 2025, the working group held five meetings, while the ICF Canoe Sprint Committee also deepend its discussions. The working group continued to discuss the global development of our sport, increasing the number of competing nations, making it more attractive for the younger generation and sustainable. In alignment with the IOC’s direction for Brisbane 2032, the working group put the following words as the purpose that should be achieved. They are Global Appeal, Cost and Complexity, Athlete Participation, Global Representation, Good Balance of Excellence and Universality and Gender Equality. Canoe Sprint has an opportunity to simplify its Olympic presentation, reduce complexity and create a more distinctive and engaging product for athletes and stakeholders. And Canoe Sprint can create better Sports Presentation highlighting the athletes much more.  We can deliver the beauty of our sport through the Olympic Movement. The working group and Canoe Sprint Committee proposed two principles to achieve the purpose towards Brisbane 2032, which were unanimously approved in the BoD meeting on June 26. The principles are “a simplified Canoe Sprint programme centred on 500m racing, and the inclusion of an innovative long distance competition format. We should be brave to take a step forward to make our sport innovative while maintaining our great tradition. 

Mastering Halifax 

Halifax, Canada hosted the 2026 ICF Masters Canoe Sprint World Championships on Lake Banook from June 25 to 27. A total of 203 athletes, including Olympic gold medallists, from 22 nations competed in edge age category. The age of the oldest athlete was 85. The athletes expressed their great performances and enjoyed paddling. They expanded friendships in our canoeing family. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the HOC who made great arrangements for this competition. All the participants including technical officials felt very warm Canadian hospitality.     

Toshi Furuya, Chair of the ICF Canoe Sprint Committee