Kayak Relay, 4 × 500 metres, Men

The 1960 Summer Olympics was the only time that the K-1 4 x 500 metres relay was held at the Games, although it was held at the World Championships from 1950 through 1975. The reigning World Champion was West Germany, who entered one of its gold medal-winning crew, Paul Lange, to the Games under the banner of unified Germany. He was joined by Dieter Krause, Günter Perleberg, and Friedhelm Wentzke. Similarly, World runner-up Hungary brought only one member of its silver medal squad to Rome, György Mészáros, augmented by Imre Szöllősi, Imre Kemecsey, and András Szente. Bronze medalist Sweden, meanwhile, did the opposite, sending three of its recent medalists, Carl von Gerber, Sven-Olov Sjödelius, and the great Gert Fredriksson, who were joined by one new member, Åke Nilsson. Germany had also been the 1957 and 1959 European runner-up and champion respectively, with different crews, while Hungary had been third and second in those tournaments. The Soviet Union had been the 1957 European champion, while Poland was the 1959 bronze medalist.

Germany and Hungary won their opening heats, while the Netherlands took a third, much easier one. The semi-finals, meanwhile, were won by the Soviets, Germany, and Hungary, while the Netherlands was eliminated. Germany dominated the final, however, winning gold by a margin of over four seconds ahead of Hungary, who took silver. Denmark, meanwhile, came in for a surprise bronze medal by sneaking ahead of the Soviets. One member from its team, Erik Hansen, also won the K-1 1000 in Rome. Three members of the Hungarian crew were also multiple medalists: Mészáros and Szente were also runners-up in the K-2 1000, while Szöllősi took another silver medal in the K-1 1000.