Canoe Sprint will make its 21st consecutive appearance as a medal sport at the Olympic Games when paddlers compete for glory at Paris 2024.
The sport has enjoyed a long and illustrious Olympic history, now stretching back almost 90 years.
Berlin 1936 was the first Games where Canoe Sprint featured as an official Olympic sport after being a demonstration event at Paris 1924.
The Internationale Repräsentantenschaft für Kanusport (IRK), the former name for the International Canoe Federation, had pushed to get the sport into previous Games only to suffer knockbacks.
Persistence pays off in achieving Olympic dream
Efforts to gain admission at Amsterdam 1928 and Los Angeles 1932 were in vain but the IRK refused to give up hope.
Max Eckert, who was elected President of the IRK in October 1932, proved to be a key figure as the German official drove hard for the sport’s inclusion.
All the National Federations were encouraged to apply to the International Olympic Committee through their respective National Olympic Committee.
An application for inclusion at Berlin 1936 was first rejected at the IOC Session in 1933 before Dr Eckert responded by tabling another bid after the IRK Congress decided unanimously to protest the rejection.
On May 16, 1934, the IOC Session in Athens, Greece finally agreed to accept the IRK’s application, with nine Canoe Sprint events admitted for Berlin 1936.
It remains one of the most poignant moments in the ICF’s 100-year history as canoeing entered the Olympic programme for the first time.
Paddlers prepare to compete on biggest sporting stage
“Canoe racing is a quite brilliant sport, combining marvelous rhythm with human vigour.”
These were the words of then IOC President Count Henri de Baillet-Latour in August 1935 after watching Austria’s canoeing team prepare for Berlin 1936.
Excitement was building for the Games as more countries staged national events while the IRK’s membership grew.
Eleven years after the IRK was established with four founding members, the organisation consisted of 22 National Federation at the end of 1935.
Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, Italy, Yugoslavia, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Sweden, Switzerland and the United States entered the canoeing competition at Berlin 1936.
The 19-nation line-up included 158 male paddlers all dreaming of making Olympic history.
Races were held on the regatta course at Grünau on the Langer See on August 7 and 8 during the Olympics.
Hradetzky strikes double gold for Austria
The programme comprised of C1 1000, C2 1000, C2 10000, K1 1000, K1 10000, K1 10000 folding, K2 1000, K2 10000 and K2 10000 folding.
The folding kayaks contested in K1 and K2 over 10,000 metres had a wooden framework inside, which meant they could pack almost flat for storage or transportation.
They were revolutionary at the time but were never to be seen at an Olympics again after Berlin 1936.
Austria proved to be the most successful nation at the Games in Berlin, claiming three golds, three silvers and one bronze in a seven-medal haul.
Gregor Hradetzky, an organ builder who started canoeing at the age of 17, won two golds for Austria courtesy of his success in the K1 1000 and K1 10000 folding, while Adolf Kainz and Alfons Dorfner grabbed the other in the K2 1000.
Hosts Germany also collected seven medals including two golds, three silvers and two bronzes.
The gold medallists were Paul Wevers and Ludwig Landen in the K2 10000 and Ernst Krebs in the K1 10000.
Czechoslovakia picked two golds thanks to victories for Jan Brzak-Felix and Vladimir Syrovatka in the C2 1000 and Vaclav Mottl and Zdenek Skrland in the C2 10000.
Sweden won the other gold medal as Erik Bladstrom and Sven Johansson triumphed in the K2 10000 folding.
France, The Netherlands and USA also finished on the final medal table following podium places.
K4 and Eskimo rolls on show in successful debut
After the official Olympic races, a demonstration race was held for K4 featuring seven clubs from Germany.
As well as this, the German Canoe Association organised performances of Eskimo rolls in the intervals between the finals on August 8.
A total of 24 paddlers demonstrated Eskimo rolling, delighted spectators watching on from the two large grandstands.
Dr Eckert and his staff were delighted with the sport’s performance at Berlin 1936 as the XI Olympiad was brought to a close on August 16.
Following the outbreak of war, the 1940 Olympics that were due to be in Tokyo, Japan and then Helsinki, Finland, did not take place, nor did the Games in 1944 that had been awarded to London, England.
After a 12-year hiatus due to the Second World War, the Olympics returned at London 1948 with canoeing now establishing itself within the biggest sporting event in the world.
Source: Information and pictures for this article were gathered from the ICF's Canoeing: 50 Years in the Olympic Games by Hans Egon Vesper
Related links
