Kayak Singles, 1,000 metres, Men

Hungary’s Géza Csapó had many canoeing accolades, among which were victories in the K-1 1000 at the World Championships in 1973 and 1974 and an Olympic bronze medal from 1972, all of which made him a favorite to win gold in the event at the 1976 Summer Games. The most recent World Championships, however, had ended in a tie between Italy’s Oreste Perri and Poland’s Grzegorz Śledziewski, the latter of whom was also the 1971 champion and the 1973 and 1974 runner-up. The Soviet Union’s Oleksandr Shaparenko, meanwhile, was the defending Olympic champion and 1968 runner-up, while East Germany’s Rüdiger Helm was the most recent World bronze medalist. In the opening round, Perri, Helm, and Shaparenko won their heats, while Csapó and Śledziewski were runners-up to Perri and Shaparenko respectively. The tables turned in the semi-finals, when Helm and Shaparenko were second to Śledziewski and Csapó’s Olympic record-setting ties respectively, with Perri capturing the third heat. The final developed into a race to the finish between Csapó and Helm, the latter of whom edged out the former by 0.64 seconds, leaving the Hungarian with silver. Bronze was taken by Vasile Dîba of Romania, 1974 and 1975 World Champion and runner-up respectively in the K-1 500, who also won the K-1 500 in Montreal. Helm, meanwhile, also earned bronze medals in the K-1 500 and K-4 1000 at these Games.