Vice President's Column

The resounding success of the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games is the result of a tremendous amount of great work. 

Over the past Olympic cycle, we have professionalised ICF events and optimized staff, television coverage and the programming of our competitions. 

It has been a collective effort with a clear strategic vision. 

Our sport is attracting new audiences and reaching greater attention than ever before. 

This has been made clear by our exceptional performance on social media during Paris 2024 with our Planet Canoe Instagram channel generating a reach of 55 million and Facebook reaching 11.5 million. 

There was also terrific TV coverage with our sport broadcast around the world capturing thrilling moments on the water and telling the inspiring stories of our athletes. 

Kayak cross generated huge interest globally as it made its debut at the Olympic Games, throwing up plenty of dramatic races for viewers to enjoy. 

The event is a great innovation that is bringing a new level of excitement to our sport and generating new fans as we saw during the Olympic Games. 

It was an amazing atmosphere at the Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium where Canoe Slalom, Canoe Sprint and Paracanoe thrilled the packed crowds that created a memorable atmosphere. 

I am delighted by the sports delivery of all our World Cups and World Championships so far in 2024.

As we strive to globalise our sport, it was great to take our Canoe Sprint World Championships to Asia for the first time with Samarkand in Uzbekistan proving to be fantastic hosts.

We are continuing to deliver our calendar of events to the highest standard and will ensure upcoming competitions reach those heights and beyond. 

At the start of October, we will see the ICF Canoe Ocean Racing World Championships held in Madeira, Portugal before our attention turns to China for an exciting period of world-class competition. 

We are really looking forward to the hosting of our multi-discipline Super Cup in Hangzhou, followed by the ICF Canoe Polo World Championships in Deqing and the ICF Dragon Boat World Cup in Yichang. 

Puerto Princesa in the Philippines will then hold the ICF Dragon Boat World Championships before Sarasota, Florida hosts the ICF Stand Up Paddling World Championships in November.  

By Lluis Rabaneda i Caselles, Vice President of the ICF