The slalom races of men's C1 and K1 in the Beijing Olympic Games have finished first and second runs on Monday but the gates setup was in violation of competition rules.
According to the International Canoe Federation slalom racing competition rules, which began to take effect from January 14, 2007, the Article of 20.2 stipulates that the course should be navigable for K1 men in a time close to 100 seconds (should not be less than 90sec).
However, the results of men's K1 runs on Monday showed that the paddlers finished each race within 90 seconds, the first finisher Peter Kauzer of Slovenia only took 81.79 seconds and 84.70 seconds to finish first and second runs respectively.
On average, the paddlers only used 86.18 seconds and 86.1 seconds to finish the two runs respectively.
According to Article 21.2, the Chief Official, the Technical Organizer, the Chief Judge and the Course Designers determine the navigability of the course.
If the course is judged in some way unacceptable, (i.e. the course, or part of the course is unfair, dangerous or impossible to negotiate) the above persons named in Rule 21.2 have the right to make a decision.
If more than half of them ask for a modification, the course must be modified. In these cases, the new course change proposals will be made by the course committee. After the approval, no further modification may be made.
(Xinhua News Agency August 12, 2008)