August 23-27, 2023

World President Thomas Konietzko met with organizing team at the regatta course

Jürgen Joachim, the president of the organizing Kanu Regatta Verein, emphasized the special responsibility for the World Championships in the year before the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris: "We know that in August for many athletes it is about the qualification for the Olympics. Our goal is to prepare everything as perfectly as possible so that the canoeists can concentrate fully on their races and their performance. Duisburg is known for its fair competition conditions. We want to confirm that, especially at the 2023 World Championships."

The president of the German Canoe Federation, Jens Perlwitz, emphasized at the check-up meeting, "The team in Duisburg has great experience. This is already the sixth time that the regatta course in the Sportpark has been the venue for a World Cup. We have the utmost confidence that this World Cup will again be an outstanding success."

1,300 participants from 100 nations

During the meeting, which lasted almost three hours, the ICF representatives were informed about all the important topics of the preparations. These included the accommodation and transportation of the nearly 1,300 participants from about 100 nations. Also of importance was the TV production, which is to provide pictures of the title fights all over the world. For Duisburgs' own Sports Company, regatta course manager Mirko Günther presented the plans for optimal preparation of the competition venue.

The representatives of the ICF made it clear during the meeting that organizing events that are as sustainable as possible has become a decisive future topic for the federation. Duisburg can score points here with short distances and correspondingly low transport costs. In addition, electric cars will be part of the vehicle fleet for the World Cup. In contrast to other venues, the deposit system will reduce plastic waste, for example for bottles of water and other beverages. Thomas Konietzko: "For us, sustainability is of great importance and we are open to new ideas in this area presented to us by the hosts."

Also on the sidelines of the meeting, the organizers and promoters talked about the admission of Russian and Belarusian athletes. Thomas Konietzko announced that the ICF Board would make a decision on this at the end of April. The German Canoe Federation had already stated in advance that a reintegration of Russian and Belarusian athletes, as proposed by the IOC, would be enormously difficult, as the situation in Ukraine has not changed since last year.