| ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Canoeing |
| Frequency | Annual, except for Olympic years |
| Location(s) | Varies (see Host cities in prose) |
| Inaugurated | 1949 |
| Previous event | 2023 ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships |
| Next event | 2025 ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships |
| Participants | Men and women |
| Organised by | International Canoe Federation |
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 (East of Chattanooga) from 20 to 23 September, but were canceled in the wake of the September 11 attacks. [1]
Men race in single kayaks (K1) and single canoes (C1) both individually and in teams. Women race in K1 both individually and in teams and since the 2010 championships also in C1 individually. A team event was scheduled for those championships, but it was canceled because of weather conditions. The first women's C1 team event took place at the 2011 world championships, but no medals were awarded. The first medals in this event were awarded in 2013.
The men's C2 event was removed from the World Championships before the 2018 edition. [2] The mixed C2 event was reinstated in 2017 after a 36-year hiatus, but it only lasted until 2019. The kayak cross events for men and women were first introduced in 2017 (as extreme kayak).
Top 10 male and female paddlers with the best medal record including the team events are listed below. Boldface denotes active paddlers and the highest number of medals per type, as of the 2023 championships.
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Event(s) | From | To | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Michal Martikán |  Slovakia | C1, C1 team | 1995 | 2019 | 15 | 3 | 5 | 23 |
| 2 | Jon Lugbill |  United States | C1, C1 team | 1979 | 1991 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 13 |
| 3 | Alexander Slafkovský | Slovakia | C1, C1 team | 2003 | 2022 | 10 | 5 | 1 | 16 |
| 4 | Richard Fox |  Great Britain | K1, K1 team | 1979 | 1993 | 10 | 0 | 1 | 11 |
| 5 | Matej Beňuš | Slovakia | C1, C1 team | 2009 | 2022 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 12 |
| 6 | David Hearn | United States | C1, C1 team | 1979 | 1995 | 8 | 5 | 0 | 13 |
| 7 | Fabien Lefèvre |  France, United States | C1, C2, K1, C2 team, K1 team | 2002 | 2014 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 14 |
| 8 | Manfred Merkel |  East Germany | C2, Mixed C2, C2 team | 1959 | 1967 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| 9 | Pavol Hochschorner | Slovakia | C2, C2 team | 1999 | 2014 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 14 |
| Peter Hochschorner | Slovakia | C2, C2 team | 1999 | 2014 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 14 |
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Event(s) | From | To | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jessica Fox |  Australia | C1, K1, Kayak cross, C1 team, K1 team | 2010 | 2023 | 14 | 5 | 3 | 22 |
| 2 | Myriam Fox-Jerusalmi | France | K1, K1 team | 1983 | 1995 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 10 |
| 3 | Mallory Franklin | Great Britain | C1, K1, C1 team, K1 team | 2013 | 2023 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 16 |
| 4 | Štěpánka Hilgertová |  Czechoslovakia, Czech Republic | K1, K1 team | 1989 | 2015 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 14 |
| 5 | Kimberley Woods | Great Britain | C1, K1, Kayak cross, C1 team, K1 team | 2015 | 2023 | 6 | 3 | 4 | 13 |
| 6 | Ludmila Polesná | Czechoslovakia | K1, K1 team | 1961 | 1975 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 11 |
| 7 | Jasmin Schornberg |  Germany | K1, K1 team | 2006 | 2022 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 11 |
| 8 | Ricarda Funk | Germany | K1, K1 team | 2015 | 2022 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 8 |
| 9 | Ursula Gläser | East Germany | K1, K1 team | 1959 | 1965 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| 10 | Tereza Fišerová | Czech Republic | C1, Mixed C2, C1 team | 2015 | 2023 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 10 |
Top 10 male and female paddlers with the best medal record excluding the team events are listed below. Boldface denotes active paddlers and the highest number of medals per type. As of the 2023 championships.
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Event(s) | From | To | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jon Lugbill | United States | C1 | 1979 | 1989 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 6 |
| 2 | Pavol Hochschorner | Slovakia | C2 | 2002 | 2011 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 7 |
| Peter Hochschorner | Slovakia | C2 | 2002 | 2011 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 7 | |
| 4 | Richard Fox | Great Britain | K1 | 1979 | 1993 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 6 |
| 5 | Michal Martikán | Slovakia | C1 | 1995 | 2017 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 11 |
| 6 | Manfred Merkel | East Germany | C2, Mixed C2 | 1959 | 1965 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Joseph Clarke | Great Britain | K1, Kayak cross | 2021 | 2023 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | |
| 8 | Fabien Lefèvre | France, United States | C1, C2, K1 | 2002 | 2014 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 7 |
| 9 | Tony Estanguet | France | C1 | 2003 | 2010 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 6 |
| 10 | Manfred Schubert | East Germany | C1 | 1957 | 1965 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Event(s) | From | To | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jessica Fox | Australia | C1, K1, Kayak cross | 2010 | 2023 | 10 | 4 | 2 | 16 |
| 2 | Ludmila Polesná | Czechoslovakia | K1 | 1961 | 1971 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| 3 | Mallory Franklin | Great Britain | C1, K1 | 2013 | 2023 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 8 |
| 4 | Jana Dukátová | Slovakia | C1, K1 | 2006 | 2017 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 5 |
| 5 | Ricarda Funk | Germany | K1 | 2015 | 2022 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 |
| 6 | Štěpánka Hilgertová | Czech Republic | K1 | 1997 | 2007 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| 7 | Elizabeth Sharman | Great Britain | K1 | 1979 | 1987 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| Myriam Fox-Jerusalmi | France | K1 | 1987 | 1993 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 | |
| 9 | Angelika Bahmann | East Germany | K1 | 1971 | 1977 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| 10 | Marietta Gillman | United States | Mixed C2 | 1975 | 1977 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Corinna Kuhnle |  Austria | K1 | 2010 | 2011 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |
| Andrea Herzog | Germany | C1 | 2019 | 2022 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | France | 61 | 61 | 39 | 161 |
| 2 | East Germany | 49 | 42 | 30 | 121 |
| 3 | Germany | 35 | 31 | 32 | 98 |
| 4 | Czech Republic | 35 | 28 | 24 | 87 |
| 5 | Great Britain | 35 | 24 | 37 | 96 |
| 6 | Czechoslovakia | 33 | 45 | 41 | 119 |
| 7 | West Germany | 25 | 26 | 26 | 77 |
| 8 | United States | 25 | 23 | 20 | 68 |
| 9 | Slovakia | 25 | 23 | 19 | 67 |
| 10 | Austria | 15 | 12 | 14 | 41 |
| 11 | Australia | 15 | 7 | 5 | 27 |
| 12 |  Slovenia | 8 | 7 | 16 | 31 |
| 13 |  Switzerland | 7 | 9 | 19 | 35 |
| 14 |  Poland | 5 | 13 | 15 | 33 |
| 15 |  Italy | 4 | 7 | 8 | 19 |
| 16 |  Yugoslavia | 2 | 5 | 7 | 14 |
| 17 |  Spain | 1 | 7 | 8 | 16 |
| 18 |  Brazil | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| 19 |  Canada | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 20 |  Russia | 0 | 2 | 4 | 6 |
| 21 |  Netherlands | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| 22 |  New Zealand | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 23 |  China | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
 Croatia | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| 25 |  Andorra | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
 Argentina | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
 Morocco | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
 Russian Canoe Federation | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Totals (28 entries) | 382 | 379 | 373 | 1,134 | |
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 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.
Richard Munro Fox is a British slalom canoeist who competed for Great Britain from the late 1970s to the mid-1990s. He won eleven medals at the ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships with ten golds and a bronze. Fox also won the overall World Cup title three times and the Euro Cup four times.
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Fabien Lefèvre is a French slalom canoeist who has competed at the international level since 1998. As a permanent resident of the United States, he has competed for his country of residence since 2013. He represented France until 2011. He won two medals at the Summer Olympics in the K1 event with a silver in 2008 and a bronze in 2004. He has a son called Noe Lefèvre.
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