Canoeing at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Women's C-2 500 metres

The women's C-2 500 metres sprint canoeing event at the 2020 Summer Olympics took place on 6 and 7 August 2021 at the Sea Forest Waterway.^[1] 26 canoeists (13 boats of 2) from 13 nations competed.^[2]

Quick facts Women's C-2 500 metres at the Games of the XXXII Olympiad, Venue ...

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Background

This was the debut appearance of the event, replacing the men's K-2 200 metres as the Olympics moved towards gender equality.^[3]

The reigning World Champions were Sun Mengya and Xu Shixiao of China.

Qualification

A National Olympic Committee (NOC) could enter only 1 qualified boat (2 canoeists) in the event. A total of 13 qualification places were available, initially allocated as follows:

8 places awarded through the 2019 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships
5 places awarded through continental tournaments, 1 per continent

Qualifying places were awarded to the NOC, not to the individual canoeists who earned the place.^[2]

The Americas continental tournament was cancelled; that place was allocated through the World Championships, with the place going to Japan.^[4] The Africa place was reallocated as well, with Europe receiving a second spot.

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Competition format

Summarize

Perspective

Sprint canoeing uses a four-round format for events with at least 11 boats, with heats, quarterfinals, semifinals, and finals. For a 13-boat event, the rounds are as follows:^[5]

Heats: Two heats of 6 and 7 boats each. The top 2 boats in each heat (4 boats total) advance directly to the semifinals, with all others (9 boats) going to the quarterfinals.
Quarterfinals: Two heats of 4 and 5 boats each. The top 3 boats in each heat (6 boats total) advance to the semifinals, with the remaining 3 boats out of medal contention and competing in the consolation Final B.
Semifinals: Two heats of 5 boats each. The top 4 boats in each heat (8 boats total) advance to the medal Final A, with the remaining 2 boats out of medal contention and competing in consolation Final B.
Finals: Final A consists of the top 8 boats, awarding the medals as well as 4th through 8th place. Final B features the remaining 5 boats, awarding 9th through 13th places.

The course is a flatwater course 9 metres wide. The name of the event describes the particular format within sprint canoeing. The "C" format means a canoe, with the canoeist kneeling and using a single-bladed paddle to paddle and steer (as opposed to a kayak, with a seated canoeist, double-bladed paddle, and foot-operated rudder). The "2" is the number of canoeists in each boat. The "500 metres" is the distance of each race.^[6]

Schedule

The event was held over two consecutive days, with two rounds per day. All sessions started at 9:30 a.m. local time, though there are multiple events with races in each session.^[7]