President's Message Q3 2024

Dear Friends, 

First of all, I would like to express my gratitude to all National Federations, our Committees, ITOs, ICF staff, and of course, our athletes, for the the outstanding Games. Paris was a significant milestone for our sport. While the details of the Games are covered elsewhere in the ICF newsletter, I would like to focus on the political discussions and their implications for our federation. 

We had the honour of hosting almost all of the IOC's leading sports officials at our events, providing an excellent opportunity to promote our sport. The atmosphere at the slalom and sprint races, along with the Paralympic competitions, left a lasting impression on our guests, further strengthening our position within the Olympic Movement. The introduction of our new kayak cross format was particularly significant. Altogether, these efforts have contributed to a modern and better image for our federation, which was previously viewed as strong but somewhat conservative. 

Through my discussions with sports leaders, I have also learned that the IOC expects International Federations to adapt to evolving interests, and that simply defending traditional programmes is no longer sufficient. This insight should also be taken into account in future discussions within our ICF bodies. We are currently awaiting the TV audience figures for Paris 2024, expected in October, which we expect will highlight the boosting popularity of our sport, particularly our new event, kayak cross.  

Regarding the Olympic programme, we are well positioned for LA28 and have submitted proposals for two additional long-distance sprint events with a new format. Soon we will also initial a broader discussion on the programme for Brisbane 2032. Of course, we should not rest on our laurels. There is always room for improvement for future, particularly in refining the schedule and enhancing the venue set-up.  

Therefore, I will propose to the Board the creation of a working group, consisting of key stakeholders from our canoeing community, to analyse the Paris Games and provide a report, possibly ahead of the ICF Congress. 

The LA 28 Organising Committee has officially announced the venue for our slalom events. With Oklahoma, we have found an outstanding host in line with the IOC Agenda 2020+5. It is now our joint task to find a way with the city of Oklahoma and the LA 28 Organising Committee to give our athletes an authentic Olympic experience. We will do everything we can to ensure our slalom athletes have the opportunity to be part of the LA Games, despite the 2000km distance from LA. 

Although the Olympic Games naturally dominate the calendar, we’ve successfully hosted several excellent World Championships and World Cups. For the first time, we organised World Championships for non-Olympic sprint disciplines in Samarkand. While there were initial concerns about the financial constraints on some NFs in an Olympic year, we were pleasantly surprised by the number of participants. Both the concept of this competition and the selection of a new venue proved successful. With new competition venues, we have new challenges to overcome, but at the same time many new opportunities to present our sport to a wider audience and to win new fans.  

Recently, the ICF signed an MoU with the Korean Canoe Association and the City of Ulsan in South Korea regarding the construction of a new artificial whitewater venue for recreational activities, safety education, and, of course, high-performance sport. It’s great to see that our ICF lobbying efforts are increasingly paying off across all continents. 

Although the season is not yet over, it is already clear that our paid YouTube channel has been well received by our fans. The considerable income generated here also ensures the financing of high-quality broadcasts in the future. While we do not expect that marketing our World Championships and World Cups individually will necessarily generate more revenue, it will provide us with greater flexibility to attract more television broadcasters with appealing offers.  

Our new office in Hangzhou is officially open, with the first employees already in place. We aim to have a total of nine staff members by the end of the year. Negotiations with the Hungarian Government regarding an office in Budapest are nearly finalized. After the Board discusses the matter in October, we will present a proposal at the ICF Congress in Antalya. 

By Thomas Konietzko, President of the ICF