While much of the focus this weekend at the ICF Canoe Slalom World Cup in Prague will be on the kayak cross Olympic qualifiers, several countries will also finalise their team selections for the Paris Olympics.

Slovenia, Italy, Poland and Sweden are among a handful of nations who will have athletes going head-to-head to earn the right to represent their country in Paris. The countries have already earned their Olympic quotas, but are yet to determine who will race at the Games.

In one of the most intriguing events of the weekend, reigning Olympic and world champion Benjamin Savsek will face off against reigning overall world cup winner Luka Bozic. Savsek is currently one point ahead of Bozic, meaning the race for Games selection is wide open.

Among the athletes who already have their Paris ticket booked is Czech paddler Antonie Galaskova, who will make her Olympic debut in France.

“If you really want to be the best, you have to get into the senior team at Czechia, because I would say that is the hardest part of the season for us, to make it to the team because there are so many great paddlers,” Galaskova said.

“We’ve started to train hard again, so here in Prague we will not be that rested. But we will see, we have a lot of things ahead of us.

“My next dream is to put down a final run that I will be proud of. Let’s say if I put down a really solid run, then I will have a chance, but there are so many really great paddlers that I don’t want to say anything, so just to be there will be a dream.”

Heavy upstream rain has forced organisers to make changes to the schedule for the weekend, with the C1 and K1 competitions restricted to just one heat run, with the top ten of each event progressing straight to the final.

The kayak cross competition on Sunday, where three Olympic quotas for both the men and the women will be up for grabs, will be run as usual.

The first event of the ICF world cup in Prague will be held on Friday afternoon.