An action-packed 2023 International Canoe Federation season will feature qualifications for the Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games alongside 12 world championships which will showcase paddle sports in locations around the globe.
Asia, Oceania, North America and Europe will all host ICF world title events in 2023, underscoring the global reach of canoeing. World cups and continental championships add to a blockbuster calendar which will feature the planet’s best athletes.
The road to Paris for canoe sprint and paracanoe athletes will begin with the ICF world championships in Duisburg, Germany, in August, where Olympic and Paralympic quotas will be available.
For canoe slalom athletes the first chance to book tickets for their federation will come at Lee Valley in London at the ICF world championships in September. Kayak cross athletes will also have a clear picture of their road to Paris after the Lee Valley world titles.
The world’s most exciting young paddlers will also be on show, with world titles in canoe sprint at the exciting new venue of Auronzo, in Italy, while junior and U23 canoe slalom paddlers will go for gold in Krakow, Poland.
Wildwater sprint athletes will contest the first ICF world titles of 2023, tackling the whitewater of the Ice Channel in Augsburg, the venue which hosted canoe slalom during the 1972 Munich Olympics, in early June.
Canoe sprint and canoe slalom will both be part of the 2023 European Games in Krakow in June.
Roudnice And Labem in the Czech Republic will play host to the junior and U23 wildwater world championships the following month. The junior and U23 canoe sprint titles in Auronzo, the senior canoe sprint and paracanoe titles in Duisburg, and the 2023 ICF Canoe Marathon World Championships in Vejen, Denmark, round out a busy July.
Lee Valley comes to life in September when it hosts the ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships, before Columbus, Georgia, hosts the best freestyle athletes in the world in October.
A busy 2023 ICF season will wrap up in in November when Pattaya, Thailand, hosts the ICF Stand Up Paddling World Championships, and Mandurah, Australia, hosts the ICF Ocean Racing World Championships.
In between the 12 world championships there will be world cups in canoe sprint, paracanoe, canoe slalom, kayak cross, SUP, wildwater, canoe marathon and dragon boat.
“2023 is shaping up to be a season to remember for our paddle sports,” ICF President, Thomas Konietzko, said.
“Not only do we have an incredible smorgasbord of events, but we are taking these competitions to all the corners of the globe. Paddle sports are so popular all around the world, at an elite level and especially among the recreational community.
“Add to this the excitement of qualifications for Paris 2024, and we are set for something special on the water this year.”