Kayakers
use a paddle with a blade on both sides. Canoes
are paddled from a kneeling stance, are more open, and only need a single bladed
paddle.Canoeing/Kayaking
Olympic canoeing/kayaking competition has two categories, flatwater, and whitewater slalom events. It became an Olympic sport in the 1936 Summer Olympics.
Canoes
and kayaks are slightly different. Kayaks
are a type of canoe where people sit with their legs in front of them, and the
top of the craft is covered.
Kayakers
use a paddle with a blade on both sides. Canoes
are paddled from a kneeling stance, are more open, and only need a single bladed
paddle.
Most events are flatwater where speed is emphasized and needed to win gold. The canoes and kayaks are built long and thin to improve speed and reduce friction between the boat and the water. During flatwater competition, competitors must stay in a lane nine meters wide and not go within five meters of another competitor. If a canoer/kayaker breaks a rule, he/she is disqualified. Heats, where the top three finishers move on to the semifinals, determine finalists, and the others go to repechages, second chance heats. The top six semifinalists go on to the medal finals.
The whitewater competition takes place in
quickly moving water ranging in length from 400 to 1200 meters.
The venues are usually man-made, but they are made to represent
whitewater rapids in nature. Competitors
must go through a series of gates, which run either upstream or downstream.
Whitewater competition 
emphasizes control, and the craft is shorter than
for the flatwater events to make easier maneuverability and has an elevated keel,
or ridge going along the length of the boat’s bottom, to decrease water
intake. In whitewater events, a
competitor’s placement is determined by the time it takes them to maneuver
through the course and correct any navigational mistakes.
Added to that time are five second penalties if they touch a gate, and 50
second penalties are added for each gate missed.
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