Some of the world’s best canoeists are among the 122 competitors in town for the Rio 2016 canoe slalom test event, which starts on Thursday (26 November). And, having had a chance to ride the rapids at the new course in Deodoro Olympic Park this week, they are convinced it is worthy of producing Olympic champions.

“It requires a lot of work mentally because you cannot rest, you have to maintain your focus during the entire course,” said Italy’s Daniele Molmenti, who won gold in the men’s K1 event at the London 2012 Olympic Games. Brazil’s Leonardo Curcel agreed, saying: “It demands a lot from us, even when you have the skills.”

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122 canoeists from 26 nations will compete at the test event (Photo: Rio 2016/Alex Ferro)

Technically challenging, the 280m course will be officially opened on Thursday before the start of the Aquece Rio International Canoe Slalom event, which runs until Sunday (29 November). Among the other leading canoeists from 26 countries who will take part are the Czech Republic’s Jiri Prskavec, who won the individual and team K1 world titles this year, France’s Emilie Fer, the K1 champion at London 2012, and Slovak twins Peter and Pavol Hochschorner, who have won medals together in the last four Olympic C-2 events – three golds followed by bronze in London.

All the Olympic events will be contested: individual canoe (C1) and doubles canoe (C2), in which competitors use single-blade paddles; and individual kayak (K1), in which double-blade paddles are used.

The canoe slalom course will be part of the X-Park, along with the BMX and mountain bike tracks (Photo: Rio City Government)

The canoe slalom course, which will be the centre-piece of the Whitewater Stadium during the Games, was one of the most complex construction projects for the Rio 2016 Games. The rapids were first switched on in September and the project underwent innovative model testing in the Czech Republic, at Prague’s Czech Technical University, which is famed for hydraulic engineering.

The team of engineers was led former world champion Jaroslav Pollard, now a professor at the university, who said: “Our aim was to help create a technically challenging course, with characteristics that would allow the canoeists to use their varied skills and experience.”

The test event will also allow Rio 2016 to test various aspects of its Games-time operations, with special focus on the competition area, results systems and the work of the technical officials.