Unofficial UK Slalom BBS

The ICF has dropped C2 from World Championship and World Cup races, with immediate effect, "to provide extra focus on C2 mixed slalom". The announcement hides a hammer-blow for C2 athletes behind a lot of virtuous waffle about gender equality.
The logic might be sound if any of last year's mixed C2 events had even been quorate. As it is, it's at least premature and, coming with no notice and on top of being dropped from the Olympics, it's a contemptible thing to do to the world's C2 athletes.

A real shame for the C2 crews who’ve put so much real spectacle into the sport. Let’s see how many mixed crews start entering events this season - it may be surprisingly high and every event will be quorate......

No mention that C2 is dropped from European competition?

To confirm, ECA has not dropped C2 from the European Championships or the Junior / Under 23 Championships. They will go ahead, hoping they will be quorate.

Information supplied to the ICF board included:

The Canoe Slalom Committee did a survey about 2018 season participation:

• 30 National Federations answered
• 100% from participating NFs in 2017 and 2016 C2 Slalom World Championships
• 80% from NFs ranked in 2017 C2M ICF ranking

The result was that no World Championships (Jun/U23/Senior) were going to be valid (insufficient Federations considering attending), and it appeared that just two World Cups would be valid for the same reason, and those just needed Irish and Venezualan boats to attend. Historically Venezuelan C2s are not often seen in Europe. Knowing that the competitions were going to be inquorate, and so there would be no World Champion and no World Cup winners, not withdrawing the events would have resulted in great expense for no recognition. How would you have felt if you flew two people and a C2 from Venezula to not have a valid race?

C2 has been hit a body blow by the withdrawl of funding when in stopped being an Olympic event. Many of those at the top have just stopped (the UK is a case in point). There are very few professional C2 paddlers now. We need to encourage the amateurs so that the event can (hopefully) regenerate and be reinstated as a World Cup/Championship event.

C2Mx has only recently been reinstated, and the survey indicated that most World Cups and World Championships WOULD be valid. But we have to wait and see if there are boats from China, India, Iran, and Venezula.

It is the TEAMS that have withdrawn support resulting in this unfortunate decision, not a committee in a back room.

Is it such a surprise that the TEAMS have dropped the class, when, for many, if not most, funding is judged by medal success alone. If you were in charge of a team, and you knew that you already intensively train both C1M and C1W, what could be easier than picking from the cream and putting two of your squad into a boat together with a good chance of winning another medal with relatively little additional expenditure of money and coaching resources? I would be delighted to be proved wrong, but am willing to bet that we don't see a mixed crew coming up through the ranks and becoming our sole Olympic boat.

I wish I wasn't so cynical

Is it not contradictory to note that funding has been withdrawn and then go on to claim it is the teams that have withdrawn support?

For GB surely it is the government policy of only funding potential olympic medals and thus withdrawing funding from the team that has forced the team to drop C2 rather than simply a matter of athletes having a strop and stopping doing it? There are no professional C2s in the UK because there is no one to pay them to be C2s anymore - those athletes need to be able to make a living and the level of performance required is impossible to achieve training part time.

I don't know how it works all around the world, I would guess France is at the opposite extreme, the French government seem keen to fund all sports at all levels irrespective of olympic status, I wouldn't be surprised to learn that France still has a strong C2 team in M, W and Mx. Presumably there are more countries in a situation similar to the GB one though?

It obviously didn't help that we stopped selecting C2s, even if they were self-funding.

The current decision feels like a shop that decides to stop ordering tinned tomatoes, then sees that sales drop so says 'wow, glad we stopped ordering those timed tomatoes....'.

C2 has gone through a massive shock with the loss of Olympic status, so there was always going to be a drop-off for a few years as the professional athletes who rely on various olympic programmes across the world have to retire, but the new generation of amateur athletes haven't come through yet.

What the ICF have done is completely kill it off, rather than nurture it back to health. Appreciate Colin's point that it's not ideal for crews to come half way round the world for a non-quorate event, but surely the crews themselves should have been consulted? Obviously doesn't help where nations aren't even willing to select though...

There will be a C2 Worlds held in Sweden. Details here. All C2s are welcome to race.

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