Canoe slalom is a competitive sport with the aim to navigate a decked canoe or kayak through a course of hanging downstream or upstream gates on river rapids in the fastest time possible. It is one of the two kayak and canoeing disciplines at the Summer Olympics, and is referred to by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as Canoe/Kayak Slalom. The other Olympic canoeing discipline is canoe sprint. Wildwater canoeing is a non-Olympic paddlesport.
The International Canoe Federation (ICF) is the umbrella organization of all national canoe organizations worldwide. It is headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland, and administers all aspects of canoe sport worldwide. 157 countries are affiliated with the ICF after seven national federations were added at the 2008 ICF Congress in Rome.
The ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships are an international event in canoe racing, one of two Summer Olympic sport events organized by the International Canoe Federation. The World Championships have taken place every non-Olympic year since 1970 and officially included paracanoe events since 2010; since 2012, paracanoe-specific editions of this event have been held in Summer Paralympic years.
The ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships are an international event in canoeing organized by the International Canoe Federation. The World Championships have taken place every year in non-Summer Olympic years since 2002. From 1949 to 1999, they had taken place in odd-numbered years. The 2001 championships were scheduled to take place in Ducktown, Tennessee from 20 to 23 September, but were canceled in the wake of the September 11 attacks.
The 1985 ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships were held between 12-16 June 1985 in Augsburg, West Germany under the auspices of International Canoe Federation for the second time. Augsburg hosted the event previously in 1957. It was the 19th edition. It also marked the first time the championships took place on an artificial whitewater slalom course at the Eiskanal and the first to be held at an Olympic venue. The Eiskanal previously hosted the slalom canoeing events at the 1972 Summer Olympics held in neighboring Munich.
The 1995 ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships were held in Nottingham, United Kingdom under the auspices of International Canoe Federation at the Holme Pierrepont National Watersports Centre. It was the 24th edition. Nottingham became the first city to host the canoe slalom and canoe sprint world championships, having hosted the sprint championships previously in 1981.
The 2002 ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships were held in Bourg St.-Maurice, France under the auspices of International Canoe Federation for the record-tying third time. It was the 27th edition. Bourg St.-Maurice hosted the championships previously in 1969 and 1987, and matches the times hosted by Spittal, Austria and Meran, Italy. Beginning at these championships, this event would be held on an annual basis in non-Summer Olympic years. The 2001 championships were scheduled to take place in Ducktown, Tennessee in September that year on the canoe slalom course used for the 1996 Summer Olympics in neighboring Atlanta, but were cancelled in the wake of the September 11 attacks.
The 2005 ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships were held in Penrith, New South Wales, Australia at the Penrith Whitewater Stadium under the auspices of International Canoe Federation. It was the 29th edition. This marked the first time the events took place on the Australian continent on the venue that hosted the slalom canoeing event for the 2000 Summer Olympics in neighboring Sydney.
The 2006 ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships were held in Prague, Czech Republic between 2-6 August 2006 under the auspices of International Canoe Federation at the Prague-Troja Canoeing Centre. It was the 30th edition. Prague became the second city to host both the slalom and sprint world championships, having hosted the latter in 1958 when Prague was part of Czechoslovakia. Nottingham, Great Britain was the first, hosting the slalom world championships in 1995 and the sprint world championships in 1981.
The 2009 ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships were held on 9–13 September 2009 at Parc Olímpic del Segre in La Seu d'Urgell, Spain under the auspices of International Canoe Federation. It was the 32nd edition. La Seu d'Urgell hosted the event previously in 1999. A demonstration event for women's single canoe (C1W) took place that was swept by Australia. Slovakia was the top medal winner with six, including three golds. Germany and Great Britain each won four medals with a gold medal each. Host nation Spain won their first medals ever at the championships with four.
The ICF Canoe Slalom World Cup is an annual series of races in canoe slalom held under the auspices of the International Canoe Federation. It has been held since 1988 in four canoe and kayak disciplines for men and women. The four original disciplines were men's single canoe (C1), men's double canoe (C2), men's kayak (K1) and women's kayak. A women's single canoe discipline (C1) has been added to the world cup in 2010. The men's C2 event was removed from the world cup series in 2018 and it was replaced by the mixed C2 event. 2018 was also the first time that world cup points were awarded for the extreme K1 event.
The 2017 ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships was the 38th edition of the ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships. The event took place from 22 September to 1 October 2017 in Pau, France under the auspices of International Canoe Federation (ICF) at the Pau-Pyrénées Whitewater Stadium. Pau was also hosting the Wildwater Canoeing World Championships as part of the same event.
The 2018 ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships were the 39th edition of the ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships. The event took place from 25 to 30 September 2018 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil under the auspices of International Canoe Federation (ICF). The competitions were held at the Deodoro Olympic Whitewater Stadium which had also hosted the canoe slalom events of the 2016 Summer Olympics.
The ICF World Junior and U23 Canoe Slalom Championships are an annual international canoeing and kayaking event organized by the International Canoe Federation (ICF). The Junior World Championships were first held in 1986 and then every two years until 2012. The Under-23 category has been added to the program in 2012. Since then the championships have been held annually. Athletes under the age of 18 are eligible for the junior category.
The 1998 ICF World Junior Canoe Slalom Championships were the 7th edition of the ICF World Junior Canoe Slalom Championships. The event took place in Lofer, Austria from 17 to 19 July 1998 under the auspices of the International Canoe Federation (ICF).
The 1992 ICF World Junior Canoe Slalom Championships were the 4th edition of the ICF World Junior Canoe Slalom Championships. The event took place on the Sjoa river in Norway from 5 to 12 July 1992 under the auspices of the International Canoe Federation (ICF).
The 1990 ICF World Junior Canoe Slalom Championships were the 3rd edition of the ICF World Junior Canoe Slalom Championships. The event took place in Tavanasa, Switzerland from 13 to 22 July 1990 under the auspices of the International Canoe Federation (ICF).
The 1986 ICF World Junior Canoe Slalom Championships were the inaugural edition of the ICF World Junior Canoe Slalom Championships. The event took place in Spittal an der Drau, Austria from 16 to 20 July 1986 under the auspices of the International Canoe Federation (ICF).
The Wildwater Canoeing World Championships are an international event in canoeing organized by the International Canoe Federation. The World Championships have taken place every two years from 1959 to 1995 and then from 1996 to 2001, from 2011 the event is annual.
The 2022 ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships took place from 26 to 31 July 2022 in Augsburg, Germany under the auspices of International Canoe Federation (ICF). It was the 42nd edition. The events took place at the Augsburg Eiskanal. Augsburg hosted the championships for the fourth time after previously hosting in 1957, 1985 and 2003.
Jon Lugbill (USA)
Jean Sennelier (FRA)
West Germany 
United Kingdom 
Poland 
Luboš Hilgert (TCH)
Switzerland 