Canoe Sprint at the 1980 Summer Olympics

Dates 30 July – 2 August 1980
Medal Events 11

The 1980 canoeing program was identical to that of 1976, with two women’s kayak events (singles and doubles) and nine men’s events (five in kayak, four in Canadian canoe). All events were considered canoe sprint events.

The men’s events were dominated by Soviet paddler Vladimir Parfenovich, who won three gold medals, two in kayak doubles events accompanied by Serhiy Chukhrai. The 1980 Olympics also saw the Olympic début of German Birgit Fischer, the greatest women’s canoeist of all-time, who would compete through the 2004 Olympics, winning 12 medals and eight gold medals, despite having to miss the 1984 Olympics during the peak of her career. Canoeing is primarily a European sport, dominated by Eastern European and German paddlers, and thus the 1980 US-led boycott had almost no effect on the canoeing competition in Moscow.

The 1980 canoeing events were held at the Canoeing and Rowing Basin at the Krylatskoye Sports Complex, which also hosted 1980 Olympic rowing. The venue was built in 1973 and continues to host major canoeing and rowing events (through 2020). One innovation in 1980 was that an automatic start system was introduced for the canoes and kayaks.

Events

Event Status Date Participants NOCs
Kayak Singles, 500 metres, Men Olympic 30 July – 1 August 1980 17 17
Kayak Singles, 1,000 metres, Men Olympic 31 July – 2 August 1980 20 20
Kayak Doubles, 500 metres, Men Olympic 30 July – 1 August 1980 36 18
Kayak Doubles, 1,000 metres, Men Olympic 31 July – 2 August 1980 32 16
Kayak Fours, 1,000 metres, Men Olympic 31 July – 2 August 1980 48 12
Canadian Singles, 500 metres, Men Olympic 30 July – 1 August 1980 11 11
Canadian Singles, 1,000 metres, Men Olympic 31 July – 2 August 1980 12 12
Canadian Doubles, 500 metres, Men Olympic 30 July – 1 August 1980 20 10
Canadian Doubles, 1,000 metres, Men Olympic 31 July – 2 August 1980 22 11
Kayak Singles, 500 metres, Women Olympic 30 July – 1 August 1980 11 11
Kayak Doubles, 500 metres, Women Olympic 30 July – 1 August 1980 24 12
180 (148/32) 23 (23/13)

Medals

Event Gold Silver Bronze
Kayak Singles, 500 metres, Men Vladimir ParfenovichURS John SumegiAUS Vasile DîbaROU
Kayak Singles, 1,000 metres, Men Rüdiger HelmGDR Alain LebasFRA Ion BîrlădeanuROU
Kayak Doubles, 500 metres, Men Soviet UnionURS SpainESP East GermanyGDR
Kayak Doubles, 1,000 metres, Men Soviet UnionURS HungaryHUN SpainESP
Kayak Fours, 1,000 metres, Men East GermanyGDR RomaniaROU BulgariaBUL
Canadian Singles, 500 metres, Men Sergey PostrekhinURS Lyubomir LyubenovBUL Olaf HeukrodtGDR
Canadian Singles, 1,000 metres, Men Lyubomir LyubenovBUL Sergey PostrekhinURS Eckhard LeueGDR
Canadian Doubles, 500 metres, Men HungaryHUN RomaniaROU BulgariaBUL
Canadian Doubles, 1,000 metres, Men RomaniaROU East GermanyGDR Soviet UnionURS
Kayak Singles, 500 metres, Women Birgit FischerGDR Vanya GeshevaBUL Antonina MelnikovaURS
Kayak Doubles, 500 metres, Women East GermanyGDR Soviet UnionURS HungaryHUN

Medal table

NOC Gold Silver Bronze Total
Soviet Union URS 4 2 2 8
East Germany GDR 4 1 3 8
Bulgaria BUL 1 2 2 5
Romania ROU 1 2 2 5
Hungary HUN 1 1 1 3
Spain ESP 0 1 1 2
Australia AUS 0 1 0 1
France FRA 0 1 0 1