Kayak Singles, 500 metres, Women
| Date | 26 – 29 August 1960 |
|---|---|
| Status | Olympic |
| Location | Lago Albano, Castel Gandolfo |
| Participants | 13 from 13 countries |
Yelizaveta Dementyeva was the 1956 Olympic, 1957 and 1959 European, and 1958 World Champion in the K-1 500 but, at the 1960 Summer Olympics, the Soviet Union was represented by Antonina Seredina, runner-up at the 1958 Worlds and the 1959 Europeans, and also Dementyeva’s partner when they won silver in the K-2 500 in 1958. Germany’s Therese Zenz, the 1956 Olympic and 1957 European runner-up and 1958 World bronze medalist, was also present, as was Hungary’s Klára Bánfalvi-Fried, the 1959 European bronze medalist. All of these women were contenders for the podium, but the fastest time in the opening round went to Seredina, who bested Zenz by just over a second to set an Olympic record. Bánfalvi-Fried, meanwhile, finished third in a heat won by Daniela Walkowiak of Poland. Seredina set another Olympic record in the semi-finals, defeating Bánfalvi-Fried in the process, while Walkowiak and Zenz won their other heats. The final came to an exciting conclusion as Seredina and Zenz battled to the line, with the former coming out on top by a mere 0.14 seconds. Walkowiak came in over two seconds after Zenz to claim bronze. The top two results were the same as in the K-2 500, in which Seredina and Zenz again finished 1-2 in the final.
| Pos | Number | Competitor | NOC | R1 | Rep | SF | Final | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | – | Antonina Seredina |  URS | 2:08.82 (1 h2) | – | 2:07.20 (1 h2) | 2:08.08 (1) | Gold | ||
| 2 | – | Therese Zenz |  GER | 2:09.73 (2 h2) | – | 2:08.51 (1 h3) | 2:08.22 (2) | Silver | ||
| 3 | – | Daniela Walkowiak |  POL | 2:15.34 (1 h1) | – | 2:11.07 (1 h1) | 2:10.46 (3) | Bronze | ||
| 4 | – | Anni Werner-Hansen |  DEN | 2:14.04 (4 h2) | 2:13.76 (1 h2) | 2:17.87 (3 h1) | 2:13.88 (4) | |||
| 5 | – | Klára Friedné Bánfalvi |  HUN | 2:17.39 (3 h1) | – | 2:15.51 (2 h2) | 2:14.02 (5) | |||
| 6 | – | Else-Marie Lindmark |  SWE | 2:13.37 (3 h2) | – | 2:13.19 (2 h1) | 2:14.17 (6) | |||
| 7 | – | Alberta Zanardi |  ITA | 2:17.14 (2 h1) | – | 2:15.58 (2 h3) | 2:14.31 (7) | |||
| 8 | – | Eva Kutová |  TCH | 2:16.35 (5 h2) | 2:17.87 (1 h1) | 2:16.90 (3 h3) | 2:15.30 (8) | |||
| 9 | – | Eila Kyröläinen |  FIN | 2:22.33 (6 h1) | 2:18.54 (2 h1) | 2:17.28 (3 h2) | 2:17.28 (9) | |||
| 4 h1 r3/4 | – | Marianne Tucker |  GBR | 2:21.06 (4 h1) | 2:21.04 (3 h1) | 2:18.96 (4 h1) | – | |||
| 4 h2 r3/4 | – | Heidi Sager |  AUS | 2:19.75 (6 h2) | 2:15.27 (2 h2) | 2:18.42 (4 h2) | – | |||
| 4 h3 r3/4 | – | Gabrielle Lutz |  FRA | 2:22.05 (5 h1) | 2:19.28 (3 h2) | 2:22.51 (4 h3) | – | |||
| 4 h1 r2/4 | – | Glo Perrier |  USA | 2:23.00 (7 h2) | 2:21.20 (4 h1) | – | – | |||
| – | Helga Wiedermann |  AUT | – (DNS h1) | – | – | – | ||||
| – | Elena Dumitrascu |  ROU | – (DNS h2) | – | – | – |
Round One
| Date | 26 August 1960 — 9:00 |
|---|---|
| Format | Top three in each heat advanced to the semi-finals. All others advanced to the Repêchage. |
Heat #1
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | – | Daniela Walkowiak | POL | 2:15.34 | ||
| 2 | – | Alberta Zanardi | ITA | 2:17.14 | ||
| 3 | – | Klára Friedné Bánfalvi | HUN | 2:17.39 | ||
| 4 | – | Marianne Tucker | GBR | 2:21.06 | ||
| 5 | – | Gabrielle Lutz | FRA | 2:22.05 | ||
| 6 | – | Eila Kyröläinen | FIN | 2:22.33 | ||
| – | Helga Wiedermann | AUT | – |
Heat #2
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | – | Antonina Seredina | URS | 2:08.82 | ||
| 2 | – | Therese Zenz | GER | 2:09.73 | ||
| 3 | – | Else-Marie Lindmark | SWE | 2:13.37 | ||
| 4 | – | Anni Werner-Hansen | DEN | 2:14.04 | ||
| 5 | – | Eva Kutová | TCH | 2:16.35 | ||
| 6 | – | Heidi Sager | AUS | 2:19.75 | ||
| 7 | – | Glo Perrier | USA | 2:23.00 | ||
| – | Elena Dumitrascu | ROU | – |
Repêchage
| Date | 26 August 1960 — 15:00 |
|---|---|
| Format | Top three in each heat advanced to the semi-finals. |
Heat #1
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | – | Eva Kutová | TCH | 2:17.87 | ||
| 2 | – | Eila Kyröläinen | FIN | 2:18.54 | ||
| 3 | – | Marianne Tucker | GBR | 2:21.04 | ||
| 4 | – | Glo Perrier | USA | 2:21.20 |
Heat #2
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | – | Anni Werner-Hansen | DEN | 2:13.76 | ||
| 2 | – | Heidi Sager | AUS | 2:15.27 | ||
| 3 | – | Gabrielle Lutz | FRA | 2:19.28 |
Semi-Finals
| Date | 27 August 1960 — 9:00 |
|---|---|
| Format | Top three in each heat advanced to the final. |
Heat #1
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | – | Daniela Walkowiak | POL | 2:11.07 | ||
| 2 | – | Else-Marie Lindmark | SWE | 2:13.19 | ||
| 3 | – | Anni Werner-Hansen | DEN | 2:17.87 | ||
| 4 | – | Marianne Tucker | GBR | 2:18.96 |
Heat #2
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | – | Antonina Seredina | URS | 2:07.20 | ||
| 2 | – | Klára Friedné Bánfalvi | HUN | 2:15.51 | ||
| 3 | – | Eila Kyröläinen | FIN | 2:17.28 | ||
| 4 | – | Heidi Sager | AUS | 2:18.42 |
Heat #3
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | – | Therese Zenz | GER | 2:08.51 | ||
| 2 | – | Alberta Zanardi | ITA | 2:15.58 | ||
| 3 | – | Eva Kutová | TCH | 2:16.90 | ||
| 4 | – | Gabrielle Lutz | FRA | 2:22.51 |
Final Round
| Date | 29 August 1960 — 15:00 |
|---|
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | – | Antonina Seredina | URS | 2:08.08 | ||
| 2 | – | Therese Zenz | GER | 2:08.22 | ||
| 3 | – | Daniela Walkowiak | POL | 2:10.46 | ||
| 4 | – | Anni Werner-Hansen | DEN | 2:13.88 | ||
| 5 | – | Klára Friedné Bánfalvi | HUN | 2:14.02 | ||
| 6 | – | Else-Marie Lindmark | SWE | 2:14.17 | ||
| 7 | – | Alberta Zanardi | ITA | 2:14.31 | ||
| 8 | – | Eva Kutová | TCH | 2:15.30 | ||
| 9 | – | Eila Kyröläinen | FIN | 2:17.28 |