Canoeing at the 1968 Summer Olympics – Men's K-1 1000 metres

The men's K-1 1000 metres event was an individual kayaking event conducted as part of the Canoeing at the 1968 Summer Olympics program. Heats and the first repechage were timed in tenths of a second (0.1) while semifinals and finals were timed in hundredths of a second (0.01) in the official report.

Medalists

Gold	Silver	Bronze
Mihály Hesz (HUN)	Aleksandr Shaparenko (URS)	Erik Hansen (DEN)

Results

Heats

The 20 competitors first raced in three heats on October 22. The top three finishers from each of the heats advanced directly to the semifinals. One competitor capsized during their heat while another did not start. All remaining competitors competed in the repechages the next day.

Heat 1
1.	Rolf Peterson (SWE)	4:02.6	QS
2.	Andrei Contolenco (ROU)	4:03.7	QS
3.	Mihály Hesz (HUN)	4:04.7	QS
4.	Paul Hoekstra (NED)	4:05.7	QR
5.	Adrian Powell (AUS)	4:07.3	QR
6.	John Glair (USA)	4:13.5	QR
-	Fernando Inchauste (BOL)	Did not finish
-	Günther Pfaff (AUT)	Did not start
Heat 2
1.	Erik Hansen (DEN)	4:05.6	QS
2.	Rolf Olsen (NOR)	4:08.0	QS
3.	Horst Mattern (FRG)	4:09.5	QS
4.	Marc Moens (BEL)	4:09.6	QR
5.	José María Colon (ESP)	4:16.5	QR
6.	John Glavin (GBR)	4:18.7	QR
7.	Fidel Santander (MEX)	4:28.8	QR
Heat 3
1.	Władysław Szuszkiewicz (POL)	4:03.4	QS
2.	Aleksandr Shaparenko (URS)	4:04.6	QS
3.	Wolfgang Lange (GDR)	4:05.3	QS
4.	Václav Mára (TCH)	4:05.4	QR
5.	Gabor Joo (CAN)	4:11.8	QR
6.	Jouko Viitamäki (FIN)	4:22.2	QR
7.	Jérôme Dodo Gaye (CIV)	4:31.2	QR

Inchusate's boat capsized during the first heat. In the third heat, Viitamäki is shown as Ilkka Nummisto in the official report though Viitamäki's name is shown correctly for the rest of the event.

Repechages

Taking place on October 23, three repechages were held. The top three finishers in each repechages advanced to the semifinals.

Repechage 1
1.	José María Colon (ESP)	4:16.6	QS
2.	Paul Hoekstra (NED)	4:18.3	QS
3.	Jouko Viitamäki (FIN)	4:25.8	QS
Repechage 2
1.	Marc Moens (BEL)	4:29.08	QS
2.	Gabor Joo (CAN)	4:29.40	QS
3.	John Glair (USA)	4:29.89	QS
4.	Fidel Santander (MEX)	4:30.09
Repechage 3
1.	Adrian Powell (AUS)	4:14.05	QS
2.	John Glavin (GBR)	4:19.28	QS
3.	Václav Mára (TCH)	4:20.58	QS
4.	Jérôme Dodo Gaye (CIV)	4:31.69

Semifinals

The top three finishers in each of the three semifinals (raced on October 24) advanced to the final.

Semifinal 1
1.	Rolf Peterson (SWE)	4:01.39	QF
2.	Václav Mára (TCH)	4:03.31	QF
3.	Wolfgang Lange (GDR)	4:04.62	QF
4.	Rolf Olsen (NOR)	4:09.08
5.	José María Colon (ESP)	4:13.17
6.	Gabor Joo (CAN)	4:17.50
Semifinal 2
1.	Erik Hansen (DEN)	3:58.72	QF
2.	Aleksandr Shaparenko (URS)	3:59.37	QF
3.	Mihály Hesz (HUN)	4:04.97	QF
4.	Marc Moens (BEL)	4:06.55
5.	John Glavin (GBR)	4:14.93
6.	Jouko Viitamäki (FIN)	4:21.52
Semifinal 3
1.	Władysław Szuszkiewicz (POL)	4:05.72	QF
2.	Paul Hoekstra (NED)	4:06.73	QF
3.	Andrei Contolenco (ROU)	4:06.78	QF
4.	John Glair (USA)	4:08.31
5.	Adrian Powell (AUS)	4:08.78
6.	Horst Mattern (FRG)	4:13.46

Final

The final took place on October 25.

	Mihály Hesz (HUN)	4:02.63
	Aleksandr Shaparenko (URS)	4:03.58
	Erik Hansen (DEN)	4:04.39
4.	Władysław Szuszkiewicz (POL)	4:06.36
5.	Rolf Peterson (SWE)	4:07.86
6.	Václav Mára (TCH)	4:09.35
7.	Andrei Contolenco (ROU)	4:09.96
8.	Wolfgang Lange (GDR)	4:10.03
9.	Paul Hoekstra (NED)	4:13.28

Hesz was fifth at the 500 meter mark, then made his move with 200 meters left. He passed both Hansen and Shaparenko in the last 100 meters.

References

• 1968 Summer Olympics official report Volume 3, Part 2. pp. 615–6. (in English and French)
• Sports-reference.com 1968 K-1 1000 m results.
• Wallechinsky, David and Jaime Loucky (2008). "Canoeing: Men's Kayak Singles 1000 Meters". In The Complete Book of the Olympics: 2008 Edition. London: Aurum Press limited. p. 472.