Canoe Sprint at the 1988 Summer Olympics

The 1988 canoeing (and rowing) events were held at the Misari Regatta Course, in Hanam City, 20 km east of Seoul. The course was built in preparation for the 1988 Olympics and also hosted the 1986 Asian Games. The 1988 programme was the same as in 1984, with nine men’s events (five kayak, four Canadian canoe) and three women’s kayak events. There were only flatwater events in 1988, as in 1976-84, but whitewater slalom canoeing would return to the Olympic Programme in 1992. All events were considered canoe sprint events.

Birgit Fischer-Schmidt of East Germany won three medals in women’s kayaking, with a silver in K1, and gold medals in K2 and K4. Fischer-Schmidt is the greatest female canoe paddler of all-time, winning 12 Olympic medals and eight gold medals. Her eight golds record would later be equaled at Paris 2024 by New Zealander Lisa Carrington. Fischer-Schmidt also won 27 gold medals and 37 medals at the World Championships, including winning gold in all three women’s kayak events in 1981-83, 1985, and 1987, and winning five gold medals at the 1997 Worlds.