ICF

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Recorded May 13, 2026

Foundational federation milestone. Internationale Representantschaft für Kanusport (IRK) was founded on 19 January 1924 in Copenhagen, Denmark by representatives of four national federations — Austria, Denmark, Germany, and Sweden — six months before the opening ceremony of the 1924 Paris Summer Olympics. Foundational federation event that established the body owning all subsequent international canoeing rule-making. The IRK was renamed International Canoe Federation (ICF) in 1946; every modern ICF rule on boat specifications, race distances, scoring, equipment, and competition format descends from the founding mandate established at this Copenhagen meeting.

Recorded May 9, 2026

Foundational Olympic milestone for ICF-governed canoeing. Canoeing was first featured as a competition sport at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin — two years before the first ICF World Championships in 1938. The 1936 Berlin program included flatwater sprint events for kayak (K-1, K-2) and canoe (C-1, C-2) over a range of distances, establishing the foundational Olympic format that has continued with modifications through every subsequent Summer Olympics. The 1936 acceptance validated the IRK's (later ICF's) competition rules at the highest international level.

Recorded May 9, 2026

Discrete modern ICF rule change with precise date. The federation announced on 13 August 2009 that the men's 500m sprint events at the 2012 London Olympics would be replaced by 200m events — a deliberate move toward shorter, more broadcast-friendly sprint distances aligned with where elite canoe-sprint racing was trending. The change took effect for the 2012 Olympic program (men's K-1 200m, K-2 200m, C-1 200m) and reshaped national-federation training programs for elite sprint athletes. Modern Olympic canoe sprint continues with the post-2009 distance lineup.

Recorded May 9, 2026

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Recorded Mar 22, 2026