There was a ton of history made in both canoe slalom and sprint at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. Not only were medals handed out in a brand-new slalom discipline, but some of the brightest stars in slalom and sprint reached heights we had never seen before.
Nobody had a better games than Australia's Jessica Fox, who not only cemented herself as the best paddler in history with a record-setting medal haul, but played a huge part in another medal win.
Then there was Fox's geographical neighbor, Lisa Carrington of New Zealand, who tied the record for the most gold medals in canoe sprint history with the eighth of her career.
Medal Table
| Country | Gold-Silver-Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|
| Hungary | 0-4-3 | 7 |
| Germany | 2-2-2 | 6 |
| Australia | 3-1-1 | 5 |
| New Zealand | 4-0-0 | 4 |
| Great Britain | 0-2-2 | 4 |
| France | 1-2-0 | 3 |
| Spain | 0-0-3 | 3 |
| China | 2-0-0 | 2 |
| Italy | 1-1-0 | 1 |
| Canada | 1-0-1 | 2 |
| United States | 0-1-1 | 2 |
| Brazil | 0-1-0 | 1 |
| Ukraine | 0-1-0 | 1 |
| Poland | 0-1-0 | 1 |
| Cuba | 0-0-1 | 1 |
| Denmark | 0-0-1 | 1 |
| Slovakia | 0-0-1 | 1 |
| Moldova | 0-0-1 | 1 |
Women's Slalom
Fox pulls off historic double
No athlete had ever won gold in both the C-1 and K-1 at an Olympic Games until Jessica Fox did the double in Paris. The heavy favorite in both, Fox barely snuck through to the final in the K-1 before putting down a tremendous run that nobody could top. That medal gave her four in the K-1 in her Olympic career, the most by any paddler, and her first gold in the event which closed the last hole in her Olympic résumé.
In her signature C-1, Fox lapped the field on her way to victory and became the most decorated paddler in Olympic history. The C-1 also saw more history made, as Team USA's Evy Leibfarth took home bronze to give the United States its first canoe slalom medal since Athens 2004.
WOMEN'S K-1 MEDALISTS
Gold: Jessica Fox (AUS)
Silver: Klaudia Zwolinska (POL)
Bronze: Kimberly Woods (GBR)
WOMEN'S C-1 MEDALISTS
Gold: Jessica Fox (AUS)
Silver: Elena Lilik (GER)
Bronze: Evy Leibfarth (USA)
Noemi completes Fox sister sweep
Even though she was knocked out early, Jessica Fox still managed to play a major role in the brand-new kayak cross competition. Fox was knocked out by her sister, Noemi, in the quarterfinals. It may have ruined her chance of a sweep, but not her family's.
Noemi would go on an incredible run from there all the way to the gold medal, with her sister right by her side. Jessica was there as Noemi crossed the finish line in the final to take the gold, jumping into the water with her to celebrate and giving us one of the lasting images of canoeing at these Paris Olympics.
WOMEN'S KAYAK CROSS MEDALISTS
Gold: Noemi Fox (AUS)
Silver: Angele Hug (FRA)
Bronze: Kimberly Woods (GBR)
Men's Slalom
France has strong showing in front of home crowd
France had great success in canoe slalom at these games, but nobody did better than Nicolas Gestin. Entering Paris he was seen as a dark horse for gold in the C-1, but rode the energy of his home crowd behind him down the course to pull off the win.
The Olympic rookie gave France its fourth gold in the event, the most by any country in Olympic history.
In the K-1, teenager Titouan Castryck had a tremendous showing, taking silver with a time just two tenths of a second off Italy's Giovanni De Gennaro for gold. Castryck is expected to be the next great French paddler, and delivered a tremendous result in his first Olympics to show his ability.
MEN'S C-1 MEDALISTS
Gold: Nicolas Gestin (FRA)
Silver: Adam Burgess (GBR)
Bronze: Matej Benus (SVK)
MEN'S K-1 MEDALISTS
Gold: Giovanni De Gennaro (ITA)
Silver: Titouan Castryck (FRA)
Bronze: Pau Echaniz (ESP)
Clarke comes up short in Kayak Cross
With the unpredictable nature of kayak cross, it was hard to pinpoint a favorite entering Paris. Great Britain's Joe Clarke seemed to have separated himself from the pack in the event leading up to the Games, but came up short in Paris.
Clarke finished with the silver in the final race after getting caught in traffic early. That allowed New Zealand's Finn Butcher to get out in front, a position from which he did not relent to Australian Noemie Fox, New Zealand's Finn Butcher win first kayak cross golds.
MEN'S KAYAK CROSS MEDALISTS
Gold: Finn Butcher (NZL)
Silver: Joe Clarke (GBR)
Bronze: Noah Hegge (GER)
Women's Sprints
Carrington cements herself in history
For every bit of history Fox made in slalom, Lisa Carrington of New Zealand made in the sprints. As New Zealand's most decorated Olympian in any sport, Carrington is a legend back home, where she is known as "the GOAT in the Boat."
Carrington won all three races she participated in—the K-1 500m, K-2 500m and K-4 500m—giving herself eight gold medals in her career, tied for the most by any canoe sprinter in Olympic history.
WOMEN'S K-1 500M MEDALISTS
Gold: Lisa Carrington (NZL)
Silver: Tamara Csipes (HUN)
Bronze: Emma Aastrand Jorgensen (DEN)
WOMEN'S K-2 500M MEDALISTS
Gold: Lisa Carrington/Alicia Hoskin (NZL)
Silver: Tamara Csipes/Alida Dora Gazso (HUN)
Bronze: Paulina Paszek/Jule Marie Hake (GER)
Bronze: Noemi Pupp/Sara Fojt (HUN)
WOMEN'S K-4 100M MEDALISTS
Gold: New Zealand
Silver: Germany
Bronze: Hungary
USA's Harrison barely beaten out for second gold
Team USA's Nevin Harrison won the inaugural C-1 200m in Tokyo and was back to defend her title in Paris.
She was on track for a second gold medal, but just barely got clipped by Canada's Katie Vincent, who beat her by one one hundredth of a second to take the gold. Harrison took the silver, the second of her young career, and at just 22 years old, she should be back at Los Angeles 2028 to try and reclaim the gold.
WOMEN'S C-1 200M MEDALISTS
Gold: Katie Vincent (CAN)
Silver: Nevin Harrison (USA)
Bronze: Yarisleidis Cirilo Duboys (CUB)
WOMEN'S C-2 500M MEDALISTS
Gold: Xu Shixia/Sun Mengya (CHN)
Silver: Liudmyla Luzan/Anastasiia Rybachok (UKR)
Bronze: Sloan Mackenzie/Katie Vincent (CAN)
Men's Sprints
German pair pulls off massive upset of the heavily favored Australians in the men's K-2 500m.
Jacob Schopf and Max Lemke led the entire race and took home gold with a time of 1:26.87. The Australians, Jean van der Westhuyzen and Tom Green, did not even manage to get the silver, slipping to bronze behind Hungarians Bence Nadas and Sandor Totka after a photo finish.
The race was one of the most exciting on the entire canoe slate, and the upset may have been the biggest.
MEN'S K-1 1000M MEDALISTS
Gold: Josef Dostal (CZE)
Silver: Adam Varga (HUN)
Bronze: Balint Kopasz (HUN)
MEN'S K-2 500M MEDALISTS
Gold: Jacob Schopf/Max Lemke (GER)
Silver: Bence Nadas/Sandor Totka (HUN)
Bronze: Jean van der Westhuyzen/Tom Green (AUS)
MEN'S K-4 500M MEDALISTS
Gold: Germany
Silver: Australia
Bronze: Spain
Hungary fails to take home any golds
Hungary is the dominant country in the Olympic history of canoe sprint with 86 medals coming in, 13 more than Germany. However, the Germans have the most golds and that lead will be extended after Hungary came up empty in that department.
Hungary's Adam Varga and Balint Kopasz, heavily favored in the K-2 500m, failed to even make the final. The pair did come back on the final day of the competition in the men's K-1 1000m to take silver and bronze.
The Hungarians are still heading home with a haul of seven medals—and extended their lead atop the all-time standings—but leaving without the most precious one is a disappointment.
MEN'S C-1 1000M MEDALISTS
Gold: Martin Fuska (CZE)
Silver: Isaquias Quieroz (BRA)
Bronze: Serghei Tarnovschi (MDA)
MEN'S C-2 500M MEDALISTS
Gold: Liu Hao/Ji Bowen (CHN)
Silver: Gabriele Casadei/Carlo Tacchini (ITA)
Bronze: Joan Antoni Moreno/Diego Dominguez (ESP)