Kayak Singles, 1,000 metres, Men

Unlike the K-1 500, results for the K-1 1000 had been more consistent since the 2004 Olympics, with defending champion Eirik Verås Larsen of Norway having taken the 2005 and 2007 European and and 2005 World Championships, while also coming in third at the 2007 Worlds. Great Britain’s Tim Brabants, meanwhile, was the 2006 and 2008 European and 2007 World Champion, and was runner-up at the 2007 Europeans and 2006 Worlds. The only other person to have captured a major international title was Markus Oscarsson of Sweden, the 2006 World Champion and European bronze medalist. Ben Fouhy of Australia and Adam Van Koeverden of Canada, the 2004 Olympic silver and bronze medalists respectively, had also seen some success, with Fouhy having been the 2006 World bronze medalist and Van Koeverden the 2007 World runner-up.

Brabants, Van Koeverden, and Larsen all won their opening heats and advanced directly to the final, while Oscarsson and Fouhy, third-place in Brabants and Van Koeverden’s heats respectively, were sent to the semi-finals. Fouhy and Oscarsson were second and third respectively in a heat won by Australia’s Ken Wallace, a relatively unknown canoeist who would go on to win the K-1 500. Germany’s Max Hoff, the 2008 European bronze medalist, took the other heat. In the medal round, Brabants took command and won the gold medal by a margin of over a second; he would add to his collection the following day by taking bronze in the K-1 500. Wallace and Larsen, meanwhile, were neck and neck for the silver medal, with the latter coming out ahead by 0.142 seconds.