Kayak Crossing? The exhilarating New Olympic Event Making Waves Explained

The Paris 2024 Olympic Games has seen the kayak cross event make its debut and the extreme spectacle has already gone viral on social media. The uniquely brutish white-water discipline sees four paddlers splash onto the water and race to the finish line, barging past obstacles and each other on the way. With the finals soon to take place, what is kayak crossing and how does it work?

The Kayak cross is making waves at its first Olympics in Paris as an exhilarating event with must-watch chaos.
It is described as 'Mario Kart with boats', compared to bumper cars, and like the Olympics meets Takeshi's Castle. The event has already gone viral on social media for its recklessly exciting competition.
Competitors barrel their way past obstacles, clashing with the water and each other as they ferociously traverse up and downstream.

The quarter-finals, semi-finals, and the final are set to occur on Monday, August 5 and you do not want to miss it.

HOW DOES KAYAK CROSS WORK?

Kayak Cross is a fast-paced combination of all white-water disciplines, with full contact between athletes racing in identical plastic creek boats.

Four boats are all simultaneously launched from a ramp two metres above the water, splashing onto the surface and racing to the finish line.

Split into two stages, the first is a time trial with a slalom structure where competitors follow arrows depicting which side of the gates to pass.

This event forms the basis of the seeding for the second stage, and whoever is fastest in the first stage can choose their lane in the later heats.

With the seeds already decided for the first round, chaos is soon to ensue. The course features a maximum of six downstream gates and two upstream gates.

Each athlete also must complete a compulsory Eskimo roll.

WHAT IS AN ESKIMO ROLL?

A kayak roll or, Eskimo roll as it is known, is a 360-degree flip where athletes roll their kayak through the water.
“You have to take a big deep breath, throw yourself in, do the roll, come back up and then there’s that disorientation factor of which way the boat is facing,” said Joe Clarke, who won gold in the men’s canoe slalom in 2016.
“A lot is going on, it’s pretty hard work.”

WHEN IS THE KAYAK CROSS AT PARIS 2024??

With the opening rounds and heats out of the way, the final for both the men's and women's kayak cross takes place on Monday afternoon, August 5.

The times for the men's and women's events are below, and all in British Summer Time (BST).

Women's kayak cross schedule:

Quarter-final - 14:30
Semi-final - 15:15
Final 15:43

Men's kayak cross schedule:

Quarter-final - 14:52
Semi-final - 15:28
Final 15:48

WHICH ATHLETES TO LOOK OUT FOR

For Team GB, Joseph Clarke, who dominated the time trials, is the most successful kayak cross competitor to date, with multiple world titles.

He faces competition from France's Titouan Castryck, who took silver in the kayak slalom.
In the women's event, Australia's Jessica Fox will not be there to compete for her third gold medal in the Games, but her sister Noemie will be in the quarter-finals.

Experienced British paddler Mallory Franklin, who won the World Cup in 2022, will also be one to watch.