Canoeing will see some major changes at the Paris Games. The main ones are the addition of exciting kayak cross races, and a greater focus on gender equality. Some well-known athletes will return to the Games to try to increase their medal count.

The 2024 program will feature the first ever head-to-head kayak cross races.

In order to appeal to a younger audience, the International Olympic Committee has introduced sports like climbing and skateboarding. Kayak cross will be the water-based sport of choice.

The kayak cross race will replace the 200-metre sprint for men and women. It will start with solo timed runs, before adding a frenetic head-to-head element as four racers compete against each other.

Contact is inevitable in races, as athletes are all competing for positions on the course.

Joe Clarke, Britain's World Champion, said: "It is the head-tohead element that keeps people on their toes." "You can see people who have a bad start but suddenly go from being first to fourth."

All athletes must also perform a "kayak-roll" on a certain zone of the course. They rotate their whole craft while ducking their head under water.

Clarke and Australia’s Jessica Fox were among the favorites to win the first gold medals at the event. However, the chaos of the four-person race made it almost impossible to predict.

LION'S SHARE

The medal count in Tokyo was dominated by Germany and Hungary. The Germans won seven medals while the Hungarians came away with three golds, two bronzes and one silver.

Lisa Carrington, a New Zealander, will look to add to her personal haul - five golds and one silver - including the two medals she won in Tokyo on the same day - when she joins her six-person country's canoe sprint squad in Paris.

Fox will be bidding to win back-to-back women's single canoe gold medals at the Games, which have a special resonance for Fox as she is the France-born child of a medal-winning French mom.

In March, the International Canoeing Federation announced that there would be equal numbers of men and women in the sport during the Games. Even the 48-strong international technical team is now evenly split between the sexes.

In a press release, ICF President Thomas Konietzko stated that it was crucial to achieve 50-50 participation at all levels in paddle sports.

We are committed to increasing the number of female leaders at all levels of sport, including international, national, and club. This is crucial for the future development of our sport.

The events will take place at the Vaires sur Marne Nautical stadium, about 30 km west of Paris. The slalom races will take place between July 27 to August 5, while the sprint races are scheduled for Aug. 6-10. (Reporting and editing by Pritha Sakar, Martyn Herman does additional reporting, Philip O'Connor is the reporter)