Montgomery Whitewater Park to Host 2024 Olympic Canoe Slalom and Kayak Cross Team Trials

Montgomery Whitewater Park, Alabama’s new, world-class outdoor adventure park and lifestyle destination, announced this week that the American Canoe Association (ACA) has selected it to host the 2024 Canoe Slalom and Kayak Cross Olympic Team Trials on April 13 and 14, 2024. This is the first time Canoe Slalom and Kayak Cross will hold its Olympic Team Trials in the state of Alabama, and the first of two selection events to be held before the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Known as an iconic Civil Rights destination and home to the internationally renowned Equal Justice Initiative’s Legacy Sites, which have drawn hundreds of thousands of visitors in recent years, Montgomery will now welcome some of the world’s best paddlesport athletes and become part of the Olympic story.

Montgomery Whitewater Park opened in July 2023 and hosted the ACA’s Age Group National Championships in Canoe Slalom and Kayak Cross. The facility is the newest and most advanced of only three Olympic-caliber pumped whitewater courses in America capable of hosting the highest-level international events and offering recreational kayaking, canoeing, rafting and instruction.

Canoe slalom is contested by two types of boat, canoes and kayaks. In canoe, a single-blade paddle is used by an athlete who is kneeling in their boat. In contrast, kayakers use a double-bladed paddle and are sitting. Canoe and kayak competitions are timed events where competitors navigate a whitewater course by passing through a combination of gates. Upstream gates are designated by the color red and downstream are green. Time penalties can be incurred for touching a gate (two seconds) and missing a gate (50 seconds).

Kayak Cross is the latest addition to the Olympic Program and will debut in Paris. This exciting new Olympic event puts four kayakers in a head-to-head format, racing down a section of whitewater while negotiating several inflatable gates. The race starts with four kayaks on a ramp above the river. After launching 10 feet into the river, the athletes paddle around a series of red and green inflatable “gates” and complete a full kayak roll under a “roll zone” marker; the first boat to cross the finish line wins.

The Olympic Team Trials at Montgomery Whitewater Park will be open to the public and a schedule will be published when available at montgomerywhitewater.com, along with more information on the park and its other events. This will be the first of two team selection events with the second one taking place at RIVERSPORT in Oklahoma City, OK on April 26-28, 2024.