Canoe Doubles (C2), 10,000 metres, Men

Due to World War II, there had been no recent Canoe Sprint World Championships, which, at the time, was the best predictor of Olympic success in the sport, although Sweden’s Gunnar Johansson had won the K-2 10,000 and come in third at the K-4 1,000 at the 1938 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships. He was partnered with Werner Wettersten at the 1948 Summer Olympics.

It was the American crew of Steve Lysak and Steve Macknowski, however, that dominated this race, winning gold without ever encountering a serious challenge. Václav Havel and Jiří Pecka represented Czechoslovakia, despite the presence in London of 1938 World Champion Jan Brzák-Felix, who competed only in the C-2 1,000 and took silver, while France’s Georges Dransart and Georges Gandil came in for bronze. All of these nations would go on to win medals in the C-2 1,000 the next day, two with the same lineups: Lysak and Macknowski captured silver, while Dransart and Gandil nabbed bronze once again.