Canoeing has long been a popular sport in the UK, with the Royal Canoe Club of London dating back to 1866 and gaining the title of the world's oldest canoe club. The canoe and kayak events in the Olympic Games consist of races held on both flatwater and whitewater courses. Depending on the individual race, athletes either compete individually, in pairs or in fours and paddle distances of 500m or 1000m in the canoe sprint or 300m in the canoe slalom.

The canoeing flatwater races in the 2012 Olympic Games will be taking place at Eton Dorney, near Windsor, and the slalom races at the 20-hectacre Broxbourne showgrounds in Hertfordshire.

At Broxbourne, the courses will be cleverly designed to incorporate obstacles made of concrete, natural stone and even moveable. Great Britain has succeeded in winning canoe slalom medals at four out of the last five Olympic Games, so has high hopes for 2012.