Kayaking is a classic example of an Olympic event that just seems to become more exciting with every passing games. Since making it’s debut at the 1936 Olympic Games this explosive and action packed event has progressed from being purely flat water based spiriting through to downhill rapid water slalom time trials which was introduced in the 1970s. Although closely related to canoeing, kayaking has become a much more independently minded sport in recent games, which has gone hand in hand with ever improving facilities.
The distances by which athletes have competed both in flat water and slalom kayaking have changed considerably over the years, which makes it awkward to sum up which nation has always been the most successful at the sport, for in truth there are a few contenders. Add to this the classification anomaly that comes with medals being often bracketed under ‘canoe/kayak’ rather than as independent disciplines and it’s even more awkward to suggest who is the all time greatest.
In Terms Of Overall Canoe/Kayak Medals
When we take all of the medals won throughout the canoe/kayak Olympic subdivision we are left with Hungary being the all time best on the water (77 total medals), followed by Germany (63) and the Soviet Union (51). As stated these are for all disciplines, not just kayaking, so should only be taken as indicative of where the historic powerhouses of the sport have been located. The issue becomes further complicated when considering that many of the modern day leading nations (Slovakia, Germany) did not compete under these names in many previous Olympic Games.
However as we shall see it is largely the Central European nations which have tended to dominate kayaking as an independent discipline, especially in the modern context of K1/K2 competition.
Olympic Slalom Kayaking
Despite having been independent for only a handful of games, Slovakia is without question the overall strongest nation when it comes to men’s slalom kayaking. With ten medals in total including five golds, two of which are attributable to the legendary Michal Martikán (2G, 2S, 1B) they have led the way across all distances of the event. However it’s far from a one man show – the Slovaks have also dominated slalom canoeing to a similar degree.
Women’s slalom kayaking has been slightly more competitive but they are still the major force to be reckoned with in the modern context. Since independence they have shared the event with the Czech Republic for dominance, again reinforcing the fact that kayaking is an event dominated by the alpine nations.
Olympic Sprint Kayaking
There is an interesting shift in success when we take a look at the sprint kayaking records. Rather than it being a sport dominated by the alpine nations, instead it becomes a much more open playing field. Currently the events tend to be dominated by the Norwegians followed by occasional successes for Germany, Australia and New Zealand although Sweden has historically also been a leading contender.
This has been the case generally between both the male and female branches of the event, although as ever the success of certain breakthrough athletes in certain games always skews the overall success of the nation when compared historically.
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