The 2026 season is packed full of top-class International Canoe Federation events that will keep flatwater and whitewater fans on the edge of their seats. Let’s take a look at what is in store this year.
Oklahoma City gears up for Olympic Games
With a little over two years to go before the Olympic Games LA28 gets underway, excitement is continuing to ramp up. This year will see Oklahoma City gear up for the Games by staging the ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships. The Whitewater Center will be the venue for the event, providing an ideal opportunity for paddlers to get used to the Olympic course and the surroundings before the Games. Evy Leibfarth will be among the home hopes looking to deliver success on United States waters. The World Championships will be held from July 20 to 25, offering an exciting prospect for athletes who will also be participating in the ICF Canoe Slalom World Series that will be staged in Ljubljana, Prague, Augsburg, Vaires-sur-Marne and La Seu.
Sprint kings and queens set for Poznan
The biggest names in Canoe Sprint and Paracanoe will head to Poland seeking to be crowned world champion. Poznan will be the host for the ICF Canoe Sprint and Paracanoe World Championships from August 26 to 30. It promises to be a fantastic event where Poland’s paddlers will be eager to strike gold. Among those is Anna Pulawska who seized her opportunity in the absence of New Zealand great Lisa Carrington to win the world title in women’s kayak single 500m in 2025 before linking up with Martyna Klatt to seal women’s kayak double 500m gold in Milan. There will be extra intensive for sprint paddlers in 2026 with Olympic Ranking competitions underway on the road to LA28. World Cups will be staged in Szeged, Brandenberg and Montreal.
Marathon wait is over for Argentina
For the first time, the ICF Caneo Marathon World Championships will take place not only in Argentina but South America as a whole. It is the end of a long wait for Argentina to stage an ICF World Championships. The country last played host to such a grand paddle sport stage in 2017 when San Juan welcomed the world’s best in Canoe Freestyle. The city of Gualeguaychu will provide the stage for Canoe Marathon stars with many Argentinians looking to make their mark on home waters. Denmark’s Mads Brandt Pedersen and Sweden’s Melina Andersson will be the leading contenders for titles, while Zsofia Katalin Csorba, Zsoka Csikos and Giada Bragato will lead Hungary’s charge in Argentina. Bazhong in China will also stage an ICF Canoe Marathon World Cup from May 23 to 24.
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World Cups galore for surfski and wildwater paddlers
Book ending the start and finish of the season will be Canoe Ocean Racing with World Cups in Madeira in May and Reunion in November. There will also be ICF Canoe Ocean Racing World Cups in Kuantan, Tahiti and Molokabra in a new and exciting series of events. It provides a great opportunity for surfski paddlers to compete on the global stage, with the ICF Canoe Ocean Racing World Championships being held in Vilajoyosa from October 9 to 11. The same can also be said for Wildwater Canoeing with several World Cups lined up for 2026. Banja Luka will host the ICF Wildwater Canoeing World Championships from May 21 to 24 before a busy period of World Cup action. In June, Dunaremete will hold two World Cups before a third is staged in Bratislava and then two more in Mezzana to wrap up an enthralling month of wildwater competition.
Canoe Polo back in German hands
Germany are the dominant force in Canoe Polo. The Germans have won more World Championships medals than any other nation and underlined their strength in the discipline when their men’s and women’s teams came out on top at The World Games 2025 in Chengdu. This year will see the ICF Canoe Polo World Championships return to Germany for the first time since 2002, taking place from September 15 to 20. They will hope to take the titles again in front of a passionate home crowd in Duisburg. For the men’s team, it’s an opportunity to retain the crown for a fourth successive time. For the women’s team, it’s a chance to gain revenge after losing out to New Zealand in the final in Deqing two years ago.
SUP, Super Cup and more to keep an eye on
This year’s ICF Stand Up Paddling World Championships will be hosted in Sicily from October 14 to 18. There will also be ICF SUP World Cups in Torbay and Greece. Away from SUP, Canoe Freestyle will have two World Cups with Millau in June followed by Krakow in September. In a busy year for Polish organisers, Krakow will also hold the ICF Junior and U23 Canoe Slalom World Championships. Meanwhile, the ICF Junior and U23 Canoe Sprint World Championships will take place in Montreal and the ICF Hangzhou Super Cup will return this year, with action scheduled to be held from October 1 to 3.
