Canoe Slalom originated in Europe. Although not a large part of competitive canoeing in India, Slalom has reached a good standard. Indian Championships are held in a different state every year on a cyclic basis, with the exception of South India due to its lack of whitewater. The inclusion of Slalom in the Barcelona and Atlanta Olympics has had a considerable influence on the development of Slalom and has help lift the standard in India. Slalom courses are typically around 500 metres long and consist of good white water with 25 gates suspended from wires across the river. A gate is a pair of poles hanging about 1 metre apart and must be negotiated in either the upstream or downstream direction depending on the colour of the poles. Upstream gates have red and white poles, whereas downstream gates have green and white poles. Each competitor”s time is recorded for the course and 5 second penalties are added to the time for each gate which was hit by the paddler, and 50 seconds added for each gate missed or incorrectly negotiated. Thus the essence of the sport is to negotiate the course of gates in the correct sequence without hitting the poles as fast as possible. This requires a great degree of skill and fitness. The kayaks and canoes which have evolved for canoe Slalom are very manoeuvrable, and are low in profile. This allows the end of the boat to pass under the poles with less chance of striking the pole and incurring a penalty.