The World Championships have taken place every two years from 1959 to 1995 and then from 1996 to 2001, from 2011 the event is annual.
[1] In the odd edition 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017 and 2019 the championships included only the sprint events.
Starting from the 2017 edition of Pau, the sprint championships took place together with the Canoe Slalom World Championships and given the remarkable success this was repeated for the second time at La Seu d'Urgell in 2019.
[3][4] Since the 2002 edition also the K1 sprint competition has also been introduced.
Top male paddlers with the best medal record including only individual events are listed below.