Kayak Doubles, 1,000 metres, Men

One half of the defending Olympic champions in the K-2 1000, Sven-Olov Sjödelius of Sweden, returned to the Games in 1964 to defend his crown and was joined by Gunnar Utterberg. The reigning World Champions were Romania’s Haralambie Ivanov and Vasile Nicoară, the latter of whom was also among the most recent European champions. East Germany, meanwhile, was the reigning European and World runner-up, but competed under the banner of unified Germany, which sent West Germans Heinz Büker and Holger Zander instead. Romania won its heat in the fastest time in the opening round, although it encountered a surprising challenge from the Dutch crew, Toon Geurts and Paul Hoekstra, who finished only 0.10 seconds later. Germany, meanwhile, won its own heat comfortably. Sweden, meanwhile, was the fastest in the semi-finals, with Romania and the Netherlands taking the other two heats. The final was fairly well spaced out by the end, with Sweden winning gold, the Netherlands taking silver, and Germany capturing bronze ahead of Romania, who finished a surprising fourth and off the podium.