Oklahoma City's Riversport venue will stage the Pan American Canoe Slalom Championships ©Getty Images

Oklahoma City is set to stage the Pan American Canoe Slalom Championships, with United States and Canadian athletes aiming to secure their place in their national teams.

The event is due to be held at the American city's Boathouse District on Riversport's $45 million (£36.4 million/€42.6 million) whitewater course. 

US and Canadian canoe slalom under-23 and senior national team trials will also be held over the next three days.

Competition is due to start tomorrow and run until Sunday (May 8).

Athletes are poised to battle it out in the men's and women's K1 and C2 races as well as extreme slalom single and kayak and canoe team events.

United States athletes are set to battle it out for places in the national team ©Getty Images
United States athletes are set to battle it out for places in the national team ©Getty Images

National trials are scheduled to last three days for the US team, while the Canadian team trials are expected to conclude on Saturday (May 7).

Since being built in 2016, the Riversport Rapids 305 metres-long course has staged several US Canoe Slalom Championships.

Riversport is a US Olympic and Paralympic training site and hosts national and international canoe slalom races on the whitewater course, as well as national and international rowing and canoe sprint regattas on the adjacent Oklahoma River.

Last month, the International Canoe Federation announced that the Canoe Slalom World Championships will return to North America for the first time since 2014, with the Riversport venue named as the host for the event in 2026.