Canoe Sprint at the 1976 Summer Olympics

Slalom canoeing had been held at the 1972 Olympics but was removed from the Olympic Program in 1976 and would not return until 1992. The Montréal Organizing Committee decided not to include the discipline because they “saw no opportunity to build a course,” and after appeals from the FIC and the Organizing Committee, this was approved by the IOC Executive Board.

The flatwater canoe events for women in 1976 were the same, with kayak singles and doubles over 500 metres. The men’s flatwater program was expanded from five to nine events, with singles and doubles now contested over both 500 and 1,000 metres, in addition to a kayak fours over 1,000 metres. This would remain the standard men’s Olympic flatwater canoeing program through 2008. These events were added after the slalom events were not included. All events were considered canoe sprint events.

The Soviet Union and East Germany (German Democratic Republic) dominated the sprint canoeing, winning 9 of the 11 events, with six going to the USSR and three won by the GDR. East German Rüdiger Helm won three medals with gold in the K1-1,000 and bronze medals in the K1-500 and K4-1,000. Soviets Serhiy Petrenko and Aleksandr Vinogradov swept the Canadian doubles events, winning gold at both 500 and 1,000 metres.

The 1976 canoeing (and rowing) events were held at the Bassin Olympique off l’Île Notre Dame, and artificial island in the Saint Lawrence River in Montréal. Île Notre Dame is an artificial island created in 1965 for Expo 67, which celebrated Canada’s centennial. In 1975 the Expo 67 pavilions were demolished to allow creation of the Olympic basin.