Canadian Singles, Slalom, Men

Neither reigning Olympic champion Denis Gargaud Chanut of France, nor his compatriot, the reigning World Champion Cédric Joly, competed; they were replaced by Martin Thomas. Interestingly, out of the first six qualified nations from the World Championships, five sent different athletes to the Olympics. Although the Russian NOC did not qualify, their athlete, Pavel Eygel, competed, having already earned a quota in the Men’s K-1 event. He finished 18th and last.

Only one former World Champion, the Slovenian Benjamin Savšek, who was also a three-time European champion, participated in the event. Other favourites were the German Sideris Tasiadis, the 2012 European champion and Olympic silver medallist the same year, and local favourite Haneda Takuya, the Rio bronze medallist.

In the preliminary round on the first day of competition, the 2016 silver medallist, Matej Beňuš from Slovakia, led, followed by Savšek and the Briton Adam Burgess. On the second day, only three athletes completed the course without penalties in the semi-finals, including Martin Thomas, who was overall first. In the final, Savšek who had finished only fifth in the semi-final, made an impressive run that eventually earned him the gold medal, the first for his country in this sport. The silver medal went to the Czech Lukáš Rohan, and the bronze to Tasiadis. Rohan was coached by his father, Jiri, a two-time Olympic medallist in C-2 in 1992 and 1996. Savsek’s victory ended the 25-year domination of the Slovakian and French paddlers. The eighth-placed Spaniard Ander Elosegi, and tenth-placed Haneda, were both competing in their fourth Olympics.