Team events use a single run format with the team with the fastest time including penalties awarded gold.

Penalties are accumulated for each athlete, such that a team can incur a total of 150 seconds of penalties on a single gate (if all three miss it) or 6 seconds (if all three touch it).

The time begins when the first paddler crosses the start beam and ends when the last one crosses the finish beam.

All three paddlers must cross the finish line within 15 seconds of each other or else incur an additional 50-second penalty.

[1] Team events are generally contested on the same gate setup as the qualification heats of the individual events.