Canadian Doubles, Slalom, Men

The format of the K-1 slalom had changed since the previous Olympics, as now the scores of both rounds, rather than just the best one, counted and there was a qualifying round prior to the final. Defending Olympic champions Franck Adisson and Wilfrid Forgues of France had kept busy by winning the 1997 World Championships and coming in second at the 2000 European Championships. The reigning World Champions, however, were Marek Jiras and Tomáš Máder of the Czech Republic, while twin brothers Pavol and Peter Hochschorner of Slovakia had won the event at the last two editions of the European Championships. Finally, 1996 Olympic bronze medalists André Ehrenberg and Michael Senft had been runners-up at the 1997 World Championships.

The Slovakian, French, and German crews were the top finishers in the qualifying round, but Jiras and Máder, in fifth place, also advanced. France and Slovakia occupied the top two positions after the first run, while the Czechs were fourth behind Andrzej Wójs and Sławomir Mordarski of Poland and the Germans were seventh. Both the Frenchmen and the Germans had terrible runs in the second round that placed them seventh and eighth respectively not only in that portion of the competition, but in the final rankings as well, despite the defending Olympic champions’ great first run. This cleared the way for Slovakia to win the gold medal, which they did in style by winning the second run, while another Polish duo, Krzysztof Kołomański and Michał Staniszewski, the 1995 World Champions and 1999 runners-up, came in second with enough points to bring them from sixth after the first round to a silver medal. With Wójs and Mordarski slipping to sixth in the second run, Jiras and Máder’s third-best time was enough to earn them bronze. The Hochschorner brothers would go on to win the C-2 slalom at the 2004 and 2008 Games.