By David Gold

Canoe_SprintMay 3 - The International Canoe Federation (ICF) Sprint World Cup 2011 will take place in the Polish city of Poznan this weekend as more than 400 athletes from 40 countries come together to compete.


The Lake Malta regatta course will host the event and will be screened live for ICF TV.

The ICF has signed agreements enabling it to show all 2011 World and European Championships live.

Simon Toulson, the ICF general secretary, said: "The live coverage of our events is an important step in promoting our sport and attracting new audiences."

Racing will be held over 200 metres, 500m and 1,000m distances, with teams including Australia, Brazil and Great Britain all competing, and hosts Poland will be fielding a 33 person strong team.

Jo Bridgen-Jones of Australia and Teresa Portela of Portugal will be competing in the women's event alongside Ukraine's Inna Osypenko-Radomska and other leading athletes.

The men's competitions will feature the likes of Belgium's Aleh Yurenia, Tim Brabants of Britain and Swede Anders Gustafson.

Poznan, to the west of Poland, has hosted a number of important events such as the World Rowing Championships in 2009 and the ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships in 1990, 2001 and 2011.

It is also a candidate for the European Capital of Culture in 2016.

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