The world’s best canoe slalom athletes move on to Markkleeberg in Germany this weekend for what is likely to be the last chance for serious competition for most before this year’s Tokyo Olympics.

Once again nearly 200 athletes from almost 30 countries have entered the ICF canoe slalom world cup, following a successful start to the international season in Prague last weekend.

The Czech Olympic pairing of Jiri Prskavec (men’s K1) and Lukas Rohan (men’s C1) will both be missing from last weekend’s gold medalists, but France’s reigning men’s C1 world champion, Cedric Joly, returns to competition after missing last weekend’s racing.

Czech Vit Prindis (men’s extreme), Australia’s Jessica Fox (women’s C1), Poland’s Klaudia Zwolinska (women’s K1) and Austria’s Corinna Kuhnle (women’s extreme) will all look to defend their gold medals from Prague.

The extreme canoe slalom racing looks set to be a highlight this weekend, with all previous world champions in the men’s, and two of the three former world title holders in the women’s, all entered to compete.

The addition of extreme slalom to the Paris 2024 Olympic program has provided an extra incentive for athletes to test themselves in the head-to-head full contact event, including Rio 2016 gold medalists Joseph Clarke of Great Britain, and Denis Gargaud Chanut of France.

The second ICF canoe slalom world cup will be televised internationally, and will also be streamed on the ICF webpage. Check local guides for details.

More information regarding this weekend’s world cup can be found here.