Paracanoe for Rio: The Bid is In

Para Canoeing at the 2009 World Championships

Last year, at the 2009 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships, the door opened to more paddlers than ever when physically challenged athletes from around the world competed for the first time on the International Stage. Moving this new sport on, has been a priority of the ICF and its Canoeing For All Committee for over four years. The challenge was to build on the number of participating nations around the world and move it to the next level. To have Paracanoe on the Paralympic programme means having 24 nations from three continents participating in the 2010 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships in Poznan, Poland this year. But this has not been a problem, from just seven countries at last year's World Championships, we move to 31 Federations with 63 Athletes entered this year. Indeed, it seems that Paracanoeing is in good shape.

Some Competition...

Paracanoe does face some competition, however. There are eight other sports applying for their ticket to Rio in 2016. Triathlon, taekwondo, badminton, powerchair football, golf, handball, ID basketball and ID futsal were all expected to submit applications last Friday. Moving onto the next stage, the IPC will evaluate each submission internally and make recommendations to its Governing Board, which meets in December in Guangzhou, China to make its final decision.

Eva Werthmann, Media Manager at the International Paralympic Committee told reporters at Around The Rings that no more than two sports could feasibly be added. This is not a limit, more a realistic decision. Cities can only host so many visitors, Paralympic Villages can only house so many athletes and venues can only accommodate so many sports.

“If a new sport will be included on the Paralympic programme,” Werthmann explains, “it will not only be on the programme for Rio, but for future Paralympic Games as well. Therefore, it is solely a decision of the IPC as ‘owner’ of the Paralympic Games.”

A sport for all

ICF Secretary General, Simon Toulson said “The ICF has worked hard over the last few years to get Paracanoeing established. The popularity of these events is amazing and the standard of canoeing is excellent. Let's hope we can showcase this at the Paralympics in 2016.”

Commenting on the expansion of the sport, Canoeing For All Committee Chair said, "The canoe federations have responded magnificently to this challenge to expand the sport to include persons with physical disabilities. Our research uncovered that many Paracanoe athletes were already involved in the sport as a leisure activity and when we ‘connected the dots’ around the world there were good levels of participation in all continents. We look forward to the exciting potential of formalising and expanding this activity through the inclusion of canoeing in the Paralympic Games."

The Summer Paralympics now include 20 sports and about 420 events. Stay tuned to hear more about Paracanoe at the 2010 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships in Poznan, Poland. And in December for the final announcement from the IPC.

For more information visit ICF  http://www.canoeicf.com/icf/NewsMedia/News/Paracanoe-for-Rio.html