Logo of the 2009 ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships.
The 2009 ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships were held on 9–13 September 2009 at Parc Olímpic del Segre in La Seu d'Urgell, Catalonia, Spain under the auspices of International Canoe Federation. It was the 32nd edition. La Seu d'Urgell hosted the event previously in 1999. A demonstration event for women's single canoe (C1W) took place that was swept by Australia. Slovakia was the top medal winner with six, including three golds. Germany and Great Britain each won four medals with a gold medal each. Host nation Spain won their first medals ever at the championships with four (none gold).
Schedule
Opening ceremonies took place on 9 September at 8 PM CEST.[1] Heats took place on 10–11 September for individual events.[1][2][3] Team events took place on 12 September.[1][4] The finals for all individual events took place on 13 September 2009 from Noon to 2:30 PM CEST.[1][5] Medal and closing ceremonies took place on 13 September at 2:10 PM CEST.[1]
Technical officials
42 officials from 24 countries and the International Canoe Federation (ICF) were involved in the event judging.[1] The five-member jury is chaired by ICF official Richard Fox of Australia.[1]
Nations
A total of 60 nations were scheduled to participate at the championships.[1] The opening ceremonies on 9 September had over 300 athletes from 55 countries, including Nepal and Uganda making their debuts at the championships.[6]
Athletes
Prior to the start of the meeting, several slalom canoers had a discussion with the ICF on the future of slalom canoeing. Among those in the discussion were ICF President Perurena, Slalom Championships jury chair Fox, and slalom canoers Tony Estanguet (France), Michal Martikán (Slovakia), Pavol Hochschorner (Slovakia), Peter Hochschorner (Slovakia), Elena Kaliská (Slovakia), and David Florence (Great Britain).[7]
Event ticket prices
Ticket prices for the heat events on 10–11 September were €10 while it was €15 for the finals on 12–13 September.[1]
Accommodations
Accommodations took place in La Seu d'Urgell and surrounding areas. Besides hotels, other accommodations include rural rooms, rent a house, and rural apartments.[8]
Event innovations
At these championships, there was an automatic timing system that was both on the slalom canoer's bib and on the course itself.[1][9] There were a total of ten antennas on the course that once an electronic marker in a canoer's bib approaches an antenna, it triggered video camera and timing controls.[1][9] These course antennas were located at the start line, the finish line, and eight points in between.[1][9] This system was used as video feed for the championships.[1] It was an automatic system that times in the 1/100ths of a second and is uploadable on any Windows or Mac computer.[1]
Media coverage
Besides using the traditional coverage of television, the championships were also covered by Twitter[10] and Blogspot.[11] Live streaming was done on both the ICF website and the event website.[12][13] Live internet results were shown from the official championships website.[14] Another Internet site covering the championships with the ICF was KayakSession.com.[15] Televised coverage was also provided by UniversalSports.com and premiered on the Universal Sports broadcast channel in early October.[16]
Medal summary
Men's
Canoe
Slovakia won the most medals with five. The Hochschorner twins each won two golds, so they were the big medal winners in this discipline at these championships. France and Germany each won two medals with Tony Estanguet being the only non-Slovakian to win gold in this discipline.
Spain won the most medals in this discipline though they were both bronzes. The Czech Republic and Slovenia each won gold while France and Great Britain each won silver. Carles Juanmartí had the most medals in this discipline with two.
Germany and Great Britain each won two medals at this discipline with Jasmin Schornberg of Germany and Lizzie Neave of Great Britain each winning a gold and a bronze being the top individual medal winners.
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