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Kayak Doubles, 500 metres, Women

Date22 – 25 October 1968
StatusOlympic
LocationPista Olímpico Virgilio Uribe, Canal de Cuemanco, Xochimilco
Participants22 from 11 countries

The defending Olympic champions from unified Germany, Roswitha Esser and Annemarie Zimmermann, now competed for West Germany and had won the 1965 European Championships, but had seen little success since. It was their counterparts in the East who were the World Champions, and that nation sent one victor, Anita Kobuß, to the Games, who was joined by Karin Haftenberger. The Soviet Union, meanwhile, was represented by Antonina Seredina and Lyudmila Pinayeva who, among many other accolades, were the 1960 and 1964 Olympic champions in the K-1 500, while Seredina was also a 1960 K-2 500 champion. In the first opening heat, West Germany, the Romanian duo of Valentina Serghei and Viorica Dumitru, and the Soviets were separated in that order by a mere 0.4 seconds. East Germany, meanwhile, suffered a defeat at the hands of Hungarians Anna Pfeffer and Katalin Sági-Rozsnyói in the other heat. West Germany was completely dominant in the final, winning gold by a margin of over two seconds, but the remaining podium spots were decided by a thrilling race to the finish between Romania, Hungary, and the Soviet Union. The latter two seemed to cross at exactly the same time, with a photo finish determining that the Hungarians had edged out the Soviets by the smallest margin possible: 0.01 seconds. Pinayeva thus left Mexico City with two medals, gold from the K-1 500 and bronze from the K-2 500, while Dumitru, the K-1 500 bronze medalist, missed another one by only 0.56 seconds.

PosNumberPairNOCR1RepFinal
1Roswitha Esser / Annemarie ZimmermannFRG1:59.5 (1 h1)1:56.44 (1)Gold
2Anna Pfeffer / Katalin Sági-RozsnyóiHUN2:01.0 (1 h2)1:58.60 (2)Silver
3Lyudmila Pinayeva / Antonina SeredinaURS1:59.9 (3 h1)1:58.61 (3)Bronze
4Valentina Serghei / Viorica DumitruROU1:59.6 (2 h1)1:59.17 (4)
5Anita Kobuß / Karin HaftenbergerGDR2:02.8 (2 h2)2:00.18 (5)
6Mieke Jaapies / Tjeertje Bergers-DuifNED2:03.4 (3 h2)2:02.02 (6)
7Sperry Rademaker / Marcia Jones SmokeUSA2:08.9 (4 h1)2:04.54 (2)2:02.97 (7)
8Lesley Oliver / Barbara MeanGBR2:06.5 (4 h2)2:06.31 (3)2:03.70 (8)
9Izabella Antonowicz / Jadwiga DoeringPOL2:06.8 (5 h2)2:03.48 (1)2:04.20 (9)
4 h1 r2/3Claudia Hunt / Betty-Anne GowansCAN2:12.1 (5 h1)2:07.88 (4)
5 h1 r2/3Ann Margarit Henningsen / Angélica ZawadskiMEX2:15.3 (6 h1)2:10.11 (5)

Round One

Date22 October 1968
FormatTop three in each heat advanced to the final.

Heat #1

Time12:00
PosLanePairNOCTime
16Roswitha Esser / Annemarie ZimmermannFRG1:59.5Q
21Valentina Serghei / Viorica DumitruROU1:59.6Q
33Lyudmila Pinayeva / Antonina SeredinaURS1:59.9Q
42Sperry Rademaker / Marcia Jones SmokeUSA2:08.9
55Claudia Hunt / Betty-Anne GowansCAN2:12.1
64Ann Margarit Henningsen / Angélica ZawadskiMEX2:15.3

Heat #2

Time12:15
PosLanePairNOCTime
14Anna Pfeffer / Katalin Sági-RozsnyóiHUN2:01.0Q
23Anita Kobuß / Karin HaftenbergerGDR2:02.8Q
35Mieke Jaapies / Tjeertje Bergers-DuifNED2:03.4Q
42Lesley Oliver / Barbara MeanGBR2:06.5
51Izabella Antonowicz / Jadwiga DoeringPOL2:06.8

Repêchage

Date24 October 1968 — 11:15
FormatTop three in each heat advanced to the final.
PosLanePairNOCTime
16Izabella Antonowicz / Jadwiga DoeringPOL2:03.48Q
27Sperry Rademaker / Marcia Jones SmokeUSA2:04.54Q
38Lesley Oliver / Barbara MeanGBR2:06.31Q
45Claudia Hunt / Betty-Anne GowansCAN2:07.88
59Ann Margarit Henningsen / Angélica ZawadskiMEX2:10.11

Final Round

Date25 October 1968 — 12:30
PosLanePairNOCTime
15Roswitha Esser / Annemarie ZimmermannFRG1:56.44
23Anna Pfeffer / Katalin Sági-RozsnyóiHUN1:58.60
37Lyudmila Pinayeva / Antonina SeredinaURS1:58.61
44Valentina Serghei / Viorica DumitruROU1:59.17
56Anita Kobuß / Karin HaftenbergerGDR2:00.18
68Mieke Jaapies / Tjeertje Bergers-DuifNED2:02.02
71Sperry Rademaker / Marcia Jones SmokeUSA2:02.97
82Lesley Oliver / Barbara MeanGBR2:03.70
99Izabella Antonowicz / Jadwiga DoeringPOL2:04.20