Kayak\Canoe Slalom

The first event that we saw at the Olympics was the Kayak\Canoe Slalom. I really had no idea what to expect. Like almost everything we saw, I knew very little about the sport before seeing it.

Beijing had build a "river" with lots of rapids for the event.

The kayaks had to go through the green gates going downstream, and the red gates going upstream.

We saw prelims for 2 different events. Each event had 2 heats and the combined times from each heat decided who advanced. First, we saw the Men's C2 or 2 person canoe. I am still not sure what the difference between a canoe and a kayak is. They all looked like kayaks to me.

Second, we saw the Women's K1 or 1 person kayak.

After the first K1 heat, we saw the second heat of each event.

Our seats were near the largest drop on the course. The announcer referred to it as the Vortex.

We saw more than one kayak go under the water.

We were sitting near a lot of the families. The Canadian dad made sure to come over and say Hi!

Here is the Canadian kayaker going through one of the upstream gates.

Finally, here I am all dressed up for the occasion.