Canadian Singles, Slalom, Men

Canoe slalom singles appeared at the Olympics for the first time in 1972 (and for the last time until 1992) and, unlike in the sprint events, up to three competitors from a single nation were allowed to compete. West Germany’s Reinhold Kauder was the reigning World Champion and had come in second to his compatriot Wolfgang Peters in 1969, although there were many canoeists in contention. It was an East German, Reinhard Eiben, however, who was in first after run one, with Kauder in second and only 0.39 points behind, and another East German, Jochen Förster in third. Förster had a medal of each color from the C-1 team event at the World Championships: gold from 1971, silver from 1967, and bronze from 1965. Peters, meanwhile, failed to post a score. Eiben recorded an even better score in the second run to earn a well-deserved gold medal, while Kauder failed to improve upon his point total and was forced to settle for silver. American Jamie McEwan, who had been eighth in the first round, pulled off an impressive run in the second stage to slip ahead of Förster for the bronze medal, while Peters came in fourth in the second portion and fifth overall.