Kayak Doubles, 500 metres, Men

The men’s K-2 500 was held for the first time at the Olympics in 1976 and, having won two of the last three World Championships, the Soviets were favored to take the inaugural crown at the Games. The nation was represented by Vladimir Romanovsky and Serhiy Nahorniy in Montreal. Poland’s Ryszard Oborski and Grzegorz Śledziewski, meanwhile, had won the 1974 World Championships, while Hungary’s József Deme and János Rátkai had been runners-up at the 1973 and 1974 Worlds, as well as in the K-2 1000 at the 1972 Summer Olympics. Romania, the 1973 World bronze medalist, repeated that feat in 1975 with Larion Serghei and Policarp Malîhin and sent them to compete at the 1976 Games. The only other nation to win World medals was East Germany (bronze in 1974, silver in 1975), who was represented by Bernd Olbricht and Joachim Mattern in Montreal.

The opening heats were won by Romania, the Belgian duo of Jean-Pierre Burny and Paul Hoekstra, and the East Germans, the latter of whom posted the round’s fastest time. Hoekstra had competed for the Netherlands through 1970, and had won a silver medal in the Olympic K-2 1000 in 1964, but began representing Belgium in 1971 and, with Burny, was runner-up in the K-2 500 at that year’s World Championships. Hungary and Poland, meanwhile, survived only through the repêchage. The Spanish duo of José Seguín and Guillermo del Riego surprised in the semi-final round by finishing in the fastest time, albeit only 0.01 seconds faster than the Soviets, while the East Germans won the third heat and helped eliminate Poland. The medal round was close, but not overly so, with East Germany, the Soviet Union, and Romania finishing in that order with at least a little breathing room. East Germany and the Soviet Union also won medals in the K-2 1000, but the results were flipped, with the former emerging victorious and the latter completing the course as runners-up.