One of the newest sports at the 2024 Paris Olympics is kayak cross. If you’ve ever been kayaking on the ocean, a river, or a lake, think that but make it extreme. This is an intense sport that moves very fast. Kayakers start on an elevated platform and drop 15 feet into the water. They have to go by gates like in a skiing event in the Winter Olympics.
There are two gates, one green and one red. The gates are cylinders that float in the water. Kayakers have to go around the green gate. With the red gate, it gets tougher. Kayakers have to paddle upstream, go around the red gate, and then continue down the course. Athletes can be disqualified for going on the wrong side of the gates. It is a fairly narrow course so bumping into other kayaks happens from time to time. Bumping is allowed as long as it doesn’t endanger kayakers’ safety.
The Craziest Part Of Kayak Cross
Perhaps the most wild part of these races is that the competitors have to flip their kayaks and do a 360 to return upright. This maneuver is done when they encounter a bar that is about head level. So the kayak flip is a required action in the race. Anyone who has kayaked before thinks that flipping your vessel is the last thing you want to do. An even more rare thing to the average kayaker would be flipping and then returning upright shortly after. If you want to compete in kayak cross, you can’t be afraid of getting soaked during the race.
Kayak cross is one sport in the Olympics that Mainers would be great at. This event is similar to whitewater rafting because the water is pretty rough and athletes are going fast and furious down the course. There is an abundance of whitewater rafting on the Kennebec River in western Maine so raft guides in that area especially would be good at this sport. Kayaking on the ocean in Maine is also a popular summer activity in Portland. Kayak Cross is different from whitewater rafting in the way that whitewater rafting is adventuring down naturally occurring rapids on rivers. The kayak cross course is artificially made.
This course also reminds me of surfing courses that are manufactured and professional surfers ride on what looks like real waves.
Great Britain’s Joe Clarke is the top-ranked athlete in this event by the International Canoe Federation. Clarke had the fastest qualifying time on Friday.
Race Results
An American who competes in the kayak cross event is Evy Leibfarth from Bryson City, North Carolina. She is a two-time Olympian. In Paris, she won her first women’s kayak cross race on Saturday. Leibfarth also won bronze in canoe slalom earlier this week. Besides her, there aren’t many other Americans who competed in kayak cross during the Paris Olympics.
On the men’s side, in race 1 of Round 1 on Saturday, the Brit Joseph Clarke came in first place while American Eichfeld Casey came in third. In another race, Castryck Titouan of France came in first place at just 19 years old. In races on Sunday, Joseph Clarke won his race along with Manuel Ochoa of Spain and Finn Butcher of New Zealand winning as well.
On the women’s side, Camille Prigent won her race for France, and Evy Leibfarth won her race as well. Additional women’s races included German Elena Lilik, Luuka Jones of New Zealand, and Australian Noemie Fox picking up victories. Her sister Jessica Fox also competes in this event so it’s possible we could see a sister showdown. The kayak cross quarterfinals will be on Monday, August 5 with the women’s races starting at 9:30 a.m. EDT and the men’s starting at 9:52 a.m. EDT.
An Athlete’s Thoughts On Kayak Cross
When speaking about his favorite part of the race, Italian Giovanni De Gennaro commented,
“The best part is probably the ramp. We usually need to get our speed with our arms and our strength, but with the ramp you can use gravity to get the boost. You feel like you’re sprinting immediately when you land.”
De Gennaro is right. The race starts with immense speed. It’s not like your average kayaker who is gently paddling along on a lake or ocean. In kayak cross, athletes are bumping into other kayaks and maneuvering around gates. They’re paddling through rapids downstream and upstream sometimes.
Kayak cross is certainly a niche sport and not something that a lot of people have access to. It’s not like training for other sports like basketball or tennis where you can just go play at your local court. It certainly seems more difficult to train and prepare for. It will be interesting to see if this water sport grows in popularity. The kayak cross is a fun, fast-paced, and technically challenging sport.
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