Joe Clarke and Kimberley Woods will be competing for Team GB in kayak cross' debut at the Olympics. GETTY IMAGES

The Paris Olympics programme will be spiced up by the addition of head-to-head races in the kayak cross event, an all-action, exhilarating discipline that will be making its Olympic Games debut this summer. The fast-paced, whitewater sport combines elements of traditional kayak racing with the strategic and physical challenges of a head-to-head competition with four athletes racing down a whitewater course while navigating through a series of obstacles and complete a 360-degree boat roll to top it all off. 

"Hectic. Absolutely hectic. That’s what I love so much about it, you never know what is going to happen. You will always have the favourites in the race and you know they are very strong contenders. But so many things can go wrong. So many things can happen, both in terms of your own plans and other paddlers intruding on them," Britain's Kimberley Woods tells BBC Sport.



Woods, who claimed her first individual world title at Lee Valley last September, will be part of Team GB alongside Olympic medallists Joseph Clarke and Mallory Franklin, and Adam Burgess.

With the International Olympic Committee (IOC) hoping to attract a younger audience, sports such as climbing and skateboarding have been introduced to the Games and kayak cross is intended to do the job for water-based sports. 

The sport first appeared on the International Canoe Federation’s World Cup programme in 2015 and the Olympics will follow the same format with timed solo runs before introducing a frenetic element of head-to-head competition as four racers face off against each other.

"It's the head-to-head element that really gets people on the edge of their seats," Britain's world champion Joe Clarke told Reuters. "You see people have a terrible start, but go from first to fourth in an instant.”



Clarke is a three-time World Champion who is heading to the Olympics with Woods to compete for the inaugural gold medal at the event. Both athletes emphasised the importance of quick decision-making in such a hectic sport. 

"Decision-making is probably the biggest skill tested. Getting out ahead is the key and reading situations ahead of you. Some athletes love the fight, whereas others want to avoid that at all costs. It’s about remaining calm and composed in the midst of it,” Clarke said.

“It’s much more in the moment in terms of having to deal with things. That’s not something we have to do ordinarily,” 2022 Overall World Cup Champion Mallory Franklin explained.

"You can't plan for anything. You can only plan to react in the moment. Hopefully you are able to react well and make good decisions in the moment. That is one of my strengths, I’m instinctive, which is probably why I'm good at it,” Woods said confidently.