Echoes of 1972 as canoe president prepares to launch slalom competition

European Canoe Association president Albert Woods is leading his sport back to Munich a half-century after experiencing the Olympic Games first-hand in 1972.

The slalom canoe event launches on Thursday, Day 8 of the European Championships Munich 2022, with 41 gold medals up for grabs at the Olympic Regatta Centre.

For Woods, returning to the venue will be a happy journey of rediscovery.

“It is very lovely to be here,” he said. “I was here for the Olympics in 1972, so I am a little bit older than I was. I am enjoying being back here and this Olympic complex that was built in 1972 looks gorgeous even now after 50 years.”

Canoe slalom will make its Championships debut in Munich having not been one of the seven sports included four years ago in Glasgow and Berlin.

Woods is promising that there will be a top-class line-up of the world’s best canoe slalom athletes when competition gets under way.

“There is absolutely no doubt whatsoever you have our best athletes here,” he added. “The International Canoe Federation has been very helpful. We had the World Championships move slightly forward to allow our athletes to get back from Canada to come and compete here.

“It is our first time in these European Championships, which we are very proud of and hopefully, we will be able to continue in the future.”

The canoe slalom event runs right up until the final day of the Championships, something Woods is most definitely looking forward to.

“We are very pleased to be here and we’ve got the best canoers here,” he commented. “We have a fantastic competition lined up for the crowds here and will be here on the last day along with the athletics. So I hope people will have time to come to see us and we will give them a good show, I am sure of that.”