ABOUT THE SPORT: Sprint (flatwater) is a competition of speed, strength and endurance on calm water. There are 12 Olympic sprint events (nine for men, three for women) and four in slalom (three men, one women). In slalom (whitewater) athletes paddle the series of upstream and downstream 18 to 25 gates as quickly as possible without being penalized for touching poles or missing gates. A canoe paddler kneels while kayakers paddle in sitting position.
AMERICA'S BEST (SLALOM): Rebecca Giddens (single kayak), who won the 2002 World Championship and finished third in 2003, looks like a strong contender for gold. She was seventh in the 2000 Olympics. Matt Taylor, who competed in 2000, and Joe Jacobi, a gold medalist in 1992 and only medalist on US team, will be strong contenders in the double canoe. Scott Parsons (single kayak) placed fifth at the final World Cup on the Athens course, a penalty from the podium.
WORLD'S BEST (SLALOM): France's Tony Estanguet (single canoe) beat 1996 gold medalist Slovakia's Michal Martikan for gold in Sydney and will battle again. In double canoe, Slovakian twins Peter and Pavol Hochschorner are the defending gold medalists and were ranked No.1 in the world in 2003, but the Czech Republic pair of Jaroslav Volf and Ondra Stepanek won the Olympic qualifier in April.
Two-time defending champion Stepanka Hilgertova of the Czech Republic is the only whitewater athlete to win two golds and will try to add to her medal total in women's kayak. AMERICA'S BEST (SPRINT): Rami Zur (single kayak 500 and 1,000) leads the men with a fourth in the 500 at the 2003 world championships. After training less than a year together, Kathy Colin, (2000 Olympian) Lauren Spalding (undefeated in Hawaii's outrigger canoeing), Carrie Johnson and Marie Mijalis won the quadruple kayak Continental Olympic Qualifier in May. Jordan Malloch, who made the team in 2000 and won both single 500 and 1,000 events opted out to paddle with Nate Johnson in the 500 and 1,000 double canoe instead.
WORLD'S BEST (SPRINT): The single kayak 500-meters will be closely fought between Australia's Nathan Baggley (who won the 2003 Worlds and is also in 1,000 competition) and Canada's Adam Van Koeverden who is coming off a 2004 World Cup win. The Germans have won the last four men's double kayak 500-meter races they have entered while the Hungarians dominate the double and quadruple women's canoe events. In the single canoe 500 and 1,000-meters, Russia's Maxim Opalev has seven World Championships Medals and was the 500-meters silver medalist in 2000 will challenge Germany's Andreas Dittmer, a four-time gold medalist, for top two spots in each event. Hungary's Katalin Kovacs is the reigning world champion for the past two years in the 500-meter women's single kayak.
LOOKING TO IMPROVE: In 2000, U.S. team failed to take a medal in either sprint or slalom for the first time since 1972.
