# Canoeing at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Men's slalom K-1

The men's K-1 slalom canoeing event at the 2020 Summer Olympics took place on 28 and 30 July 2021 at the Kasai Canoe Slalom Course. 24 canoeists from 24 nations competed. Jiří Prskavec from the Czech Republic won the event, Jakub Grigar from Slovakia was second, and Hannes Aigner from Germany third. Prskavec and Aigner were bronze medalists in this event at the 2016 and 2012 Olympics, respectively; for Grigar, this is the first Olympic medal.

## Background

This was the ninth appearance of the event, having previously appeared in every Summer Olympics with slalom canoeing: 1972 and 1992–2016.
Reigning Olympic champion Joe Clarke did not make the Great Britain team, with that nation selecting Bradley Forbes-Cryans instead. Reigning World Champion Jiří Prskavec of the Czech Republic, who won bronze at the 2016 Games, earned a place for his nation.

## Qualification

A National Olympic Committee (NOC) could enter only 1 qualified canoeist in the men's slalom K-1 event. A total of 24 qualification places were available, allocated as follows:
* 1 place for the host nation, Japan
* 18 places awarded through the 2019 ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships
* 5 places awarded through continental tournaments, 1 per continent
Qualifying places were awarded to the NOC, not to the individual canoeist who earned the place.
The World Championships quota places were allocated as follows:
| Rank | Canoeist | Nation | Qualification | Selected competitor |
| 1 | Jiří Prskavec | Czech Republic | 1st placed NOC | Jiří Prskavec |
| 2 | David Llorente | Spain | 2nd placed NOC | David Llorente |
| 4 | Bradley Forbes-Cryans | Great Britain | 3rd placed NOC | Bradley Forbes-Cryans |
| 7 | Antoine Launay | Portugal | 4th placed NOC | Antoine Launay |
| 8 | Lucien Delfour | Australia | 5th placed NOC | Lucien Delfour |
| 9 | Pavel Eigel | ROC | 6th placed NOC | Pavel Eigel |
| 10 | Jakub Grigar | Slovakia | 7th placed NOC | Jakub Grigar |
| 11 | Quentin Burgi | France | 8th placed NOC | Boris Neveu |
| 12 | Hannes Aigner | Germany | 9th placed NOC | Hannes Aigner |
| 14 | Ben Hayward | Canada | 10th placed NOC | Michael Tayler |
| 15 | Giovanni De Gennaro | Italy | 11th placed NOC | Giovanni De Gennaro |
| 16 | Felix Oschmautz | Austria | 12th placed NOC | Felix Oschmautz |
| 19 | Martin Dougoud | Switzerland | 13th placed NOC | Martin Dougoud |
| 21 | Niko Testen | Slovenia | 14th placed NOC | Peter Kauzer |
| 22 | Michal Smolen | United States | 15th placed NOC | Michal Smolen |
| 24 | Pepe Gonçalves | Brazil | 16th placed NOC | Pepe Gonçalves |
| 26 | Isak Öhrström | Sweden | 17th placed NOC | Erik Holmer |
| 31 | Jack Dangen | New Zealand | 18th placed NOC | Callum Gilbert |
Continental and other places:
| Nation | Canoeist | Qualification | Selected competitor |
| Japan | - | Host nation | Kazuya Adachi |
| Argentina | Thomas Bersinger | Americas quota | Lucas Rossi |
| China | Quan Xin | Asia quota | Quan Xin |
| Morocco | Mathis Soudi | Africa quota | Mathis Soudi |
| Poland | Krzysztof Majerczak | Europe quota | Krzysztof Majerczak |
| Belgium | - | Reallocation of Oceania quota | Gabriel De Coster |
Notes $^a$ The quota for the Americas was allocated to the NOC with the highest-ranked eligible athlete, due to the cancellation of the 2021 Pan American Championships.

## Competition format

Slalom canoeing uses a three-round format, with heats, semifinal, and final. In the heats, each canoeist has two runs at the course with the better time counting. The top 20 advance to the semifinal. In the semifinal, the canoeists get a single run; the top 10 advance to the final. The best time in the single-run final wins gold.
The canoe course is approximately 250 metres long, with up to 25 gates that the canoeist must pass in the correct direction. Penalty time is added for infractions such as passing on the wrong side or touching a gate. Runs typically last approximately 95 seconds.

## Schedule

All times are Japan Standard Time (UTC+9)
The men's slalom K-1 took place over two separate days.
| Date | Time | Round |
| Wednesday, 28 July 2021 | 13:00 | Heats |
| Friday, 30 July 2021 | 14:00 | Semifinal Final |

## Results

Qualification Rules: 1 to 20 to Semi-final, rest eliminated.
Qualification Rules: 1 to 10 to Final, rest eliminated.
| Rank | Bib | Canoeist | Nation | Preliminary Heats | Preliminary Heats | Preliminary Heats | Preliminary Heats | Preliminary Heats | Preliminary Heats | Semifinal | Semifinal | Semifinal | Final | Final | Final |
| Rank | Bib | Canoeist | Nation | 1st Ride | Pen. | 2nd Ride | Pen. | Best | Order | Time | Pen. | Order | Time | Pen. | Order |
| | 1 | Jiří Prskavec | Czech Republic | 92.57 | 0 | 91.71 | 2 | 91.71 | 4 | 94.29 | 2 | 1 | 91.63 | 0 | 1 |
| | 8 | Jakub Grigar | Slovakia | 94.37 | 0 | 92.38 | 2 | 92.38 | 8 | 96.27 | 2 | 4 | 94.85 | 0 | 2 |
| | 2 | Hannes Aigner | Germany | 96.51 | 2 | 90.14 | 0 | 90.14 | 1 | 97.97 | 0 | 7 | 97.11 | 0 | 3 |
| 4 | 14 | Felix Oschmautz | Austria | 94.10 | 0 | 92.18 | 0 | 92.18 | 7 | 98.42 | 2 | 9 | 98.79 | 0 | 4 |
| 5 | 12 | Michal Smolen | United States | 96.61 | 4 | 102.03 | 4 | 96.61 | 19 | 96.11 | 0 | 3 | 99.12 | 0 | 5 |
| 6 | 9 | Bradley Forbes-Cryans | Great Britain | 93.65 | 0 | 101.46 | 4 | 93.65 | 13 | 96.48 | 0 | 5 | 100.58 | 2 | 6 |
| 7 | 6 | Boris Neveu | France | 147.12 | 50 | 91.78 | 0 | 91.78 | 5 | 94.86 | 0 | 2 | 101.18 | 4 | 7 |
| 8 | 4 | Lucien Delfour | Australia | 91.10 | 0 | 91.12 | 0 | 91.10 | 3 | 97.52 | 2 | 6 | 102.33 | 2 | 8 |
| 9 | 19 | Erik Holmer | Sweden | 100.36 | 4 | 94.91 | 2 | 94.91 | 16 | 98.45 | 0 | 10 | 148.59 | 52 | 9 |
| 10 | 10 | David Llorente | Spain | 147.62 | 50 | 95.83 | 2 | 95.83 | 18 | 98.26 | 0 | 8 | 150.08 | 52 | 10 |
| 11 | 11 | Antoine Launay | Portugal | 95.68 | 0 | 93.50 | 0 | 93.50 | 12 | 98.88 | 0 | 11 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 12 | 3 | Peter Kauzer | Slovenia | 93.04 | 0 | 105.64 | 2 | 93.04 | 11 | 99.10 | 0 | 12 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 13 | 7 | Martin Dougoud | Switzerland | 93.70 | 0 | 100.58 | 4 | 93.70 | 14 | 99.28 | 2 | 13 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 14 | 5 | Giovanni De Gennaro | Italy | 90.92 | 0 | 90.65 | 0 | 90.65 | 2 | 100.23 | 4 | 14 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 15 | 17 | Krzysztof Majerczak | Poland | 99.86 | 2 | 95.21 | 0 | 95.21 | 17 | 100.99 | 2 | 15 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 16 | 18 | Kazuya Adachi | Japan | 97.72 | 0 | 92.09 | 0 | 92.09 | 6 | 101.60 | 0 | 16 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 17 | 20 | Quan Xin | China | 98.86 | 2 | 98.06 | 2 | 98.06 | 20 | 101.99 | 2 | 17 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 18 | 22 | Mathis Soudi | Morocco | 93.86 | 0 | 100.92 | 2 | 93.86 | 15 | 103.58 | 6 | 18 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 19 | 15 | Pepe Gonçalves | Brazil | 98.13 | 4 | 92.91 | 2 | 92.91 | 10 | 104.33 | 6 | 19 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 20 | 13 | Pavel Eigel | ROC | 96.53 | 0 | 92.82 | 2 | 92.82 | 9 | 151.41 | 50 | 20 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 21 | 23 | Lucas Rossi | Argentina | 103.02 | 4 | 98.29 | 2 | 98.29 | 21 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 22 | 24 | Gabriel De Coster | Belgium | 152.94 | 54 | 98.67 | 0 | 98.67 | 22 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 23 | 16 | Callum Gilbert | New Zealand | 151.85 | 54 | 101.15 | 0 | 101.15 | 23 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 24 | 21 | Michael Tayler | Canada | 117.98 | 8 | 106.04 | 2 | 106.04 | 24 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |