Part 2 - LA84 Foundation

11. Competition Management
by Sport
316
11.5
Canoeing
Canoeing competition was held at the
Han River Regatta Course located in
Misari, Dongbu-up, Kwangju-gun,
Kyonggi-do from September 26 to
October 1, drawing 440 competitors
from 32 countries.
The canoeing competition was made
up of 12 events, nine for men and
three for women; 249 athletes from 31
countries competed in the men's nine
events, and 72 athletes from 18 countries
competed in women's three
events.
The competition was divided between
Canadian canoe and kayak, and conducted
on 500-meter and 1,000-meter
courses. The kayak competition was
divided into five for men and three
events for women; The Canadian
canoe competition was divided into
four events for men only.
The competition progressed from
elimination heats and repechage to
semifinals and finals. A total of 101
races included 33 preliminaries, 22 for
repechage, 34 for semifinals, and 12
for finals.
11.5.1
Competition Preparations
—————————————–
Canoeing was introduced to Korea in
the 1970s, but the sport did not begin
to attract much attention until Seoul
was awarded the right to stage the
Olympics. Canoeing was the least
popular spectator sport among the 27
sports of the Seoul Olympic Games.
Canoeing is still unfamiliar to people in
most Asian countries and the sport
was not included in the Seoul Asian
Games schedule.
In the planning stage for the Seoul
Olympics, the SLOOC focused its
energy on the organization of a
canoeists' association, the cultivation
of specialized athletes and competition
officials, and acquisition of key
staff members in an effort to enhance
competition managing capabilities.
Embarking on the preparations for the
Olympic Games, the SLOOC set out to
gather basic data on canoeing competition
and the data of past international
competitions, while sending officials
for overseas education, conducting
training at home, and inviting foreign
specialists to conduct training sessions.
Under the IOC solidarity program, the
secretary-general of the International
Canoe Federation (ICF), chairman of
the race subcommittee, and chairman
of the technical subcommittee visited
Korea three times between 1986 and
1987 to supervise education and
training.
Reflecting the systematic endeavors
made by the SLOOC to cultivate operation
personnel, six local officials'
passed an international technical officials
qualification test administered by
the ICF in 1986. Five more obtained
the qualification in 1987.
For research and investigation, the
SLOOC sent researchers to the 1983
Los Angeles pre-Olympics and Tokyo
Olympics commemorative games, the
1984 Los Angeles Games, and the
World Canoeing Championships, each
year from 1985. Canoeing equipment,
including 87 racing boats, were locally
manufactured, in a move to lay the
foundation for the growth of canoeing
in the country.
As part of the pre-Olympic activities,
the SLOOC hosted the Seoul International
Canoeing Competition in
October 1987, and scrutinized operating
capabilities with respect to the
reception of VIPs, accreditation of
canoeists, operation of the athletes'
village, and the conduct of competitions
and awards ceremonies.
The Misari canoeing/rowing course by
the Han River was completed in April
1986 prior to the 10th Asian Games;
the course is equipped with training
lanes.
The racing course is 2,212 meters
long, 140 meters wide, and three
meters in depth, and is made up of six
lanes for rowing and nine lanes for
canoeing; the course totals 1,388,436
square meters, and is equipped with
facilities able to accommodate 25,000
spectators, along with ample parking
lots.
The course is located 10.6 kilometers
from the Olympic Village, and a fivestorey
tower and two-storey building to
house operations were also provided.
Interim time measuring spots were
installed at five locations to conduct
and check the competition.
The Canoeing Operations was
organized in January 1988, and moved
to the regatta course in March to begin
on-site operation preparations.
The Canoeing Operations consisted of
six managers and 28 officers; the staff
was comprised of six SLOOC officials,
91 support personnel, 242 volunteers
and one temporary employee, totalling
340. In addition, 138 contract personnel
assisted in the conduct of the
competition.
The competition officials commissioned
by the ICF totalled 42, including
13 Koreans.
The equipment and implements
required for the competition management
included 87 racing boats, 15
motor boats, scrutiny scales, lengthmeasuring
rules, lane-width measuring
devices, stopwatches, walkietalkies,
starter guns, racing boat
numbers, competitors' numbers,
binoculars, and lead bags.
The racing boats and most other
equipment were manufactured in
Korea, and timing equipment was
rented from Swiss Timing.
11.5.2
Conduct of the Competition
—————————————–
Canoeing competition was held only
when at least three boats took part in
a race. When there were many boats
participating in the races, the competition
was conducted in elimination
rounds, semifinals and finals. The
maximum number of boats allowed to
compete in a single race was nine.
In order to adjust the number of boats
to nine, the semifinals were conducted
in three groups, and the first to third
finishers qualified for the finals.
Because each team was allowed to
enter only one boat in each event, the
maximum number of competitors each
NOC could can enter the competition
was 10 for the men's kayak, five for the
women's kayak, and six for the Canadian
canoe.
The number of racing boats which
entered in the competition included:
22 in the men's 500-meter kayak singles;
24 in the 500-meter kayak pairs'
21 in the 1,000-meter kayak singles; 25
in the 1,000-meter kayak pairs; and 18
in the 1,000-meter kayak fours. In the
women's events, there were: 18 in the
500-meter kayak singles; 15 in the
500-meter kayak pairs; and 13 in the
500-meter kayak fours. As for the
Canadian canoes (men only), there
were: 19 in the 500-meter singles; 18
in 500-meter pairs; 17 in the 1,000meter
singles; and 18 in the 1,000meter
pairs.
The countries which entered competitors
in all 12 events were host Korea,
Canada, the Federal Republic of
Germany, Great Britain, the German
Democratic Republic, Hungary, Poland,
the U.S.S.R. and the United States.
Although the host country entered
canoeists in all the events, not one
Korean competitor made it to the second
elimination stage. Even in
repechage, Korea trailed far behind,
and failed to make to the final in a
single event.
East European nations dominated the
races; the German Democratic Republic
finished first in the medals table
with three golds, four silvers and two
bronzes; it was followed by the
U.S.S.R., with three golds and three
silvers; then it was Hungary, with two
golds, one silver and one bronze. The
United States captured two golds to
place fourth.
The number of entrance tickets issued
came to 140,958, but sales stood at
63,836, recording a 45.9 percent sales
rate. The ticket sales included 16,530
for general spectators, 29,162 for
students, 16,285 for groups, and 1,859
for overseas ticket sales.
Medal Tally by Country
Country
German Dem. Rep.
U.S.S.R.
Hungary
U.S.A.
Bulgaria
New Zealand
Poland
Australia
France
Netherlands
Total
Gold
3
3
2
2
1
1
12
Silver
4
3
1
1
1
1
1
12
Bronze
2
1
3
1
2
1
1
1
12