Italy is the destination for the first of five 2016 ICF Canoe Slalom World Cups with the sports best athletes heading for the north-western town of Ivrea from the 3-5th June.

It is the premiere occasion that the spectacular Ivrea channel has hosted a World Cup.

Canoe Slalom is an exciting adrenaline fuelled sport, where the paddlers have to negotiate their way down a 300m white water rapid.

Paddlers race through a series of up to 25 gates, which are made up of red and green poles. The coloured poles determine the direction that the paddlers must past through gates. Paddlers have the challenge to race as fast as they can through the course of gates whilst battling with the challenging white water rapids of waves, stoppers and eddies to accomplish the quickest time. Paddlers are awarded time penalties of 2 seconds if they touch a gate and 50 seconds if they miss a gate altogether, which is added to their running time. The combined score of time and penalties determines the finish order.