Canoe Slalom Course Augsburg
The venue for the first Olympic canoe slalom competition, the Canoe Slalom Course Augsburg continues to host major competitions and provides a training base for elite and recreational canoeists.
The course was the venue for the 2011 ICF Wildwater Canoeing Sprint World Championships and the ICF Canoe Slalom European Championships in 1996 and 2012, and has hosted more than 20 ICF World Cup events. It will also stage the ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships for a fourth time in 2022. Situated around 50 kilometres west of Munich, the facility underwent its first major refurbishment in its 50-year history in preparation for the 2022 World Championships. Some EUR 20 million was invested in the redevelopment project, which was completed in 2021 and included the construction of a new organisation centre and the renovation of the restaurant, boathouse and outdoor facilities.
The Canoe Slalom Course Augsburg, whose grass terraces accommodate crowds of between 8,000 and 10,000 for international competitions, also stages annual national and regional championships. It is the home of Germany’s National/Olympic Training Centre and is also used by two local canoe clubs that are responsible for running the venue. The two clubs have around 1,000 active members, who use it on a regular basis. The venue is open to visitors and is sometimes used by the city to stage summer festivals and other special events.
The first artificial white-water centre of its kind, the course has a long tradition in the sport of canoe slalom and an international reputation that remains intact. It has provided a model for more than 30 facilities around the world, which have followed a similar principle by creating an artificial white-water course connected to a river flow.
The venue is also regarded as an integral part of Augsburg’s identity and its centuries-old water management system, in recognition of which the city was named a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2019. The venue’s history dates to the 17th century, when the river Lech was dammed to create a channel supplying water to the city. This manmade stretch of water is known locally as the Eiskanal (“ice channel”), as it diverted ice floating down the river.
The Eiskanal was used as a canoe slalom venue as early as the 1950s, hosting the ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships for the first time in 1957 and the inaugural ICF Sprint Wildwater World Championships in 1963. In preparation for Munich 1972, a sculpted concrete floor was created in the channel and the course was made steeper. Water flow from the weir at the top of the channel can be controlled to provide the necessary canoeing conditions. As a result, the course does not use pumps, making it cheaper to run.