ICF Update - 091205
Saturday, 5 December 2009
The Board meeting has come to a close just as a swathe of outstanding plans and issues have been put to bed. The hottest issue was that of the Olympic Programme. Much discussed and held close to a lot of hearts, some difficult decision had to be made. But for the health of the sport and the improvement of its TV attraction the Board of Directors drew some important conclusions. Firstly, the Men's C2 500m has been cancelled from the Olympic Programme and will be replaced by Women's K1 200m. An ongoing discussion, the Board has appointed the Executive Committee to draw up a strategy paper to that will give a clear direction of canoeing in the Olympics.
As well as the Olympic Programme, the World Championships for both Sprint and Slalom went through the same treatment. For Canoe Sprint, the World Championship will follow the same programme as the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Programme with the addition of three 200m relay races, the 5000m races totalling 27 events.
The biggest news is that the Women's C1 200m has been added as an official full medal event. The Women's C2 500m will be kept as a demonstration event, just as it was in the 2009 World Championships in Dartmouth, Canada.
Another forward thinking addition to the programme concerns the sport of Paracanoe. It will have 12 events in next year's Canoe Sprint World Championships covering three classifications, LTA, TA, A.
Also concerning Canoe Sprint, the Board approved a new compulsory World Cup format that reflects the new World Championship programme. Within that, organisers can have optional events such as long distance races, Paracanoe races and relays. The Junior Canoe Sprint World Championship programme was also amended to reflect changes.
In Canoe Slalom, the addition of the Women's C1 individual and team events to the World Championships as full medal status, for both the junior and senior classes. Another exciting development, the Board of Directors approved the extension of the World Cup series from 3 competitions per year to 4 plus a World Cup final. This will start in 2011.
One of the Federation's long-term strategies is to develop a licensing programme for all suppliers. This will lead to the ICF approved equipment in all competitions. Again, this will be implemented in 2011 and will be compulsory. An important tool, the programme will concern improved safety requirements for helmets and lifejackets.
Lastly, the board approved the new comprehensive bidding process that has been drawn up by the ICF which will lead to next year's event organisers' application for hosting future events.
Of the two days, ICF President Jose Perurena Lopez said "it's most important for all the Board Directors to give their opinions and reach conclusions and there was a great atmosphere for everyone. The key decisions were the selection of the major programmes, which all show that the direction of the ICF for both the World Championships and the Olympics is progressing in the right direction. To have Women's canoe as a full medal is a key directive for us and we have a great opportunity to have more women in canoe in the future. Licensing is important for the future that will open the commercial side of the ICF."
| Link | www.canoeicf.com |
|---|---|
| Category | Multi-Discipline |
| Club | CanoeKayak Canada |
| Posted | December 08, 2009 12:52 by mj via ll |