Six nations are poised to make their Paralympic debut in Paracanoe as the International Canoe Federation announces the completion of the quota allocation process for Paris 2024.
Algeria, Egypt, South Korea, Senegal, Serbia and Thailand will all be represented in Paracanoe for the first time at the Paralympic Games.
A total of 100 athletes representing 30 nations from all five continents will race in Paris in two weeks’ time.
Gender parity has been secured with 50 female and 50 male paddlers poised to grace the Paralympic stage.
There will be five men’s and five women’s events – the biggest ever Paracanoe programme at a Paralympic Games.
Medals will be up for grabs in six kayak and four va’a events, with the women’s VL3 included for the first time to ensure gender equality.
Among the 30 countries are 12 from Europe, eight from Asia, five from Pan America, three from Africa and two from Oceania.
Great Britain, which topped the Paracanoe medals table at Tokyo 2020, will arrive in Paris with the biggest delegation after earning nine quotas.
Brazil and Italy have the joint second largest quota allocation having both obtained eight places.
Spain, Hungary and Uzbekistan have all sealed six quotas each, while the People’s Republic of China and Ukraine both have five spots.
Hosts France has four places – the same allocation as India and Japan, while Australia, Canada, Germany and Poland all have three quotas each.
Argentina, Iran, Israel, Kazakhstan, New Zealand, Portugal, Thailand and United States will each send two paddlers to the Games.
Algeria, Austria, Chile, Egypt, South Korea, Senegal and Serbia will also be represented having each secured one quota.
John Edwards, Chair of the ICF Paracanoe Committee, said: “It’s an exciting time for our sport as paddlers make their final preparations for the Paralympic Games.
“I’m thrilled to see so many nations, particularly from Africa and Asia, gain Paracanoe quotas for the first time.
“This is the result of the Paracanoe Development Programme which focused on these regions.
“We will have our largest Paralympic programme with 10 events and our biggest number of athletes with 100 ready to compete in Paris.
“I am looking forward to witnessing highly competitive races in front of amazing crowds during our three days of competition.”
Paris 2024 will be Paracanoe’s third successive appearance at the Paralympic Games after successful showings at Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020.
Paracanoe competition at Paris 2024 will run from September 6 to 8 with races taking place at the Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium.
All the Paralympic quota allocation for Paracanoe can be found here.
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