Paracanoeing at the 2016 Summer Paralympics

In 2009, the International Canoe Federation (ICF) began a programme to make the sport accessible to everyone, with the explicit aim of including it in the Paralympic Games for the first time in Rio. In 2010, 31 countries sent participants to the ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships in Poland. That same year, the sport’s inclusion in the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games was approved.

In the Paralympic Games, only kayaks, identified by the letter K, are used, and only flatwater sprint events are held. Each boat is adapted according to the functional abilities of its crew members. Athletes with any type of physical-motor disability may participate in competitions.[2]

The Olympic and Paralympic versions have similar rules, with the fastest canoeist winning. The competition format features direct classification to the finals and repechage heats to decide which athletes will take part in the final race, in which medals are won.

There are three functional classes: L3, where athletes use their legs, trunk and arms to help paddling; L2, in which athletes use only their trunk and arms; and K1, in which athletes only use their arms. Events are always held along straight line courses marked by buoys, 200 metres long. There are both men’s and women’s races, with events for individuals.[3]

An NPC can be allocated a maximum of one qualification slot per medal event. An NPC can obtain a maximum of three male and three female slots. There must be a minimum of three continents represented in each medal event at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games.

Qualification slots will be allocated as follows:

Qualification for paracanoeing at the 2016 Summer Paralympics
Qualification Event	Men				Women
	MKL1	MKL2	MKL3		WKL1	WKL2	WKL3
2015 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships Milan, Italy	Italy  Argentina  Brazil  China  Australia  Poland	Austria  Australia  Brazil  Italy  Great Britain  Slovenia	Germany  Great Britain  Russia  Romania  Ukraine  Poland		Great Britain  Germany  Ukraine  United States  Hungary  France	Great Britain  Australia  Ukraine  Hungary  Canada  Israel	Australia  Great Britain  France  Romania  Italy  Iran
2016 ICF Paracanoe World Championships Duisburg, Germany	Great Britain  South Africa  Hungary  France	Germany  Ukraine  Hungary  Spain	France  Ireland  Australia  Brazil		Chile  Australia  France  Japan	Russia  China  United States  Brazil	Canada  Brazil  United States  Sweden
Totals	10	10	10		10	10	10