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| Event type

Kayak Singles, 500 metres, Women

Date28 – 30 July 1976
StatusOlympic
LocationBassin olympique, Île Notre Dame, Montréal, Québec
Participants15 from 15 countries

The Soviet Union had not lost an Olympic final in the women’s K-1 500 since 1952 and, although it had been runner-up at the last two World Championships, its entry of Tatyana Korshunova, a 1974 World runner-up in the K-4 500, was considered the favorite at the 1976 Summer Games. East Germany, meanwhile, the 1974 and 1975 World Champion and 1973 runner-up, sent Carola Zirzow, a double World Champion in the K-2 and K-4 500. The only other recent World Championship medalist was Romania, who earned bronze all three years and was represented in 1976 by its most recent podium finisher, Maria Mihoreanu.

Korshunova posted the fastest time in the opening round, while Poland’s Ewa Kamińska-Eichler bested Zirzow and helped relegate Mihoreanu to the repêchage in the other heat. Zirzow was fastest in the semi-finals, perhaps due to the challenge presented by Mihoreanu, while Korshunova and Kamińska-Eichler took the other heats. In the final, Zirzow was the dominant canoeist and managed to take the title away from the Soviet Union for the first time in over two decades by a margin of over two seconds. Korshunova, in turn, had nearly two seconds separating her from those contesting for bronze: Mihoreanu, Kamińska-Eichler, and Hungary’s Klára Rajnai, a 1975 World bronze medalist in the K-4 500. This trio battled to the line and seemed to cross at the same time, but a photo finish confirmed that Rajnai had won the bronze medal 0.15 seconds ahead of Kamińska-Eichler and 0.39 in front of Mihoreanu. Rajnai’s third-place finish was not her only one of the day either: she also took home silver in the K-2 500, while Zirzow went on to win bronze in the same event.

PosNumberCompetitorNOCR1RepSFFinal
124Carola ZirzowGDR2:12.54 (2 h1)2:04.21 (1 h3)2:01.05 (1)GoldOB
247Tatyana KorshunovaURS2:11.58 (1 h2)2:07.90 (1 h2)2:03.07 (2)Silver
331Klára RajnaiHUN2:14.90 (3 h1)2:09.39 (2 h2)2:05.01 (3)Bronze
436Ewa Kamińska-EichlerPOL2:12.38 (1 h1)2:08.48 (1 h1)2:05.16 (4)
540Maria MihoreanuROU2:15.00 (4 h1)2:06.60 (1 h1)2:05.72 (2 h3)2:05.40 (5)
644Anastázie Hajná-FridrichováTCH2:16.43 (5 h1)2:10.22 (1 h2)2:10.31 (2 h1)2:06.72 (6)
752Julie LeachUSA2:13.00 (2 h2)2:09.44 (3 h3)2:06.92 (7)
827Irene PepinghegeFRG2:13.90 (3 h2)2:11.45 (3 h1)2:07.80 (8)
97Roza GeorgievaBUL2:14.23 (4 h2)2:10.57 (2 h2)2:10.51 (3 h2)2:08.54 (9)
4 h1 r3/411Sue HollowayCAN2:18.86 (7 h2)2:11.39 (3 h1)2:13.23 (4 h1)
4 h2 r3/417Sheila BurnettGBR2:17.07 (5 h2)2:10.59 (2 h1)2:12.07 (4 h2)
4 h3 r3/454Kate OlsenDEN2:18.26 (6 h2)2:13.10 (3 h2)2:12.71 (4 h3)
4 h1 r2/414Françoise BonetatFRA2:22.38 (8 h1)2:11.61 (4 h1)
4 h2 r2/443Marita SkoghSWE2:22.14 (7 h1)2:14.60 (4 h2)
5 h1 r2/45Brigitte VernaillenBEL2:21.21 (6 h1)2:15.72 (5 h1)

Round One

Date28 July 1976
FormatTop three in each heat advanced to the semi-finals.

Heat #1

Time10:50
PosLaneCompetitorNOCTime250 m250-500 m
11Ewa Kamińska-EichlerPOL2:12.381:05.19 (2)1:07.19 (1)Q
28Carola ZirzowGDR2:12.541:04.63 (1)1:07.91 (2)Q
35Klára RajnaiHUN2:14.901:06.56 (4)1:08.34 (3)Q
43Maria MihoreanuROU2:15.001:05.53 (3)1:09.47 (5)
52Anastázie Hajná-FridrichováTCH2:16.431:07.26 (5)1:09.17 (4)
64Brigitte VernaillenBEL2:21.211:11.06 (7)1:10.15 (7)
76Marita SkoghSWE2:22.141:10.85 (6)1:11.29 (8)
87Françoise BonetatFRA2:22.381:12.57 (8)1:09.81 (6)

Heat #2

Time11:00
PosLaneCompetitorNOCTime250 m250-500 m
16Tatyana KorshunovaURS2:11.581:02.45 (1)1:09.13 (2)Q
25Julie LeachUSA2:13.001:03.93 (2)1:09.07 (1)Q
34Irene PepinghegeFRG2:13.901:04.45 (4)1:09.45 (3)Q
42Roza GeorgievaBUL2:14.231:04.23 (3)1:10.00 (4)
53Sheila BurnettGBR2:17.071:06.31 (6)1:10.76 (5)
61Kate OlsenDEN2:18.261:05.84 (5)1:12.42 (7)
78Sue HollowayCAN2:18.861:06.93 (7)1:11.93 (6)

Repêchage

Date28 July 1976
FormatTop three in each heat advanced to the semi-finals.

Heat #1

Time16:40
PosLaneCompetitorNOCTime250 m250-500 m
14Maria MihoreanuROU2:06.601:00.62 (1)1:05.98 (2)Q
25Sheila BurnettGBR2:10.591:05.22 (4)1:05.37 (1)Q
33Sue HollowayCAN2:11.391:04.74 (3)1:06.65 (3)Q
41Françoise BonetatFRA2:11.611:04.32 (2)1:07.29 (4)
52Brigitte VernaillenBEL2:15.721:06.21 (5)1:09.51 (5)

Heat #2

Time16:50
PosLaneCompetitorNOCTime250 m250-500 m
13Anastázie Hajná-FridrichováTCH2:10.221:02.12 (1)1:08.10 (2)Q
21Roza GeorgievaBUL2:10.571:03.34 (2)1:07.23 (1)Q
32Kate OlsenDEN2:13.101:04.43 (3)1:08.67 (3)Q
44Marita SkoghSWE2:14.601:05.42 (4)1:09.18 (4)

Semi-Finals

Date30 July 1976
FormatTop three in each heat advanced to the final.

Heat #1

Time11:00
PosLaneCompetitorNOCTime250 m250-500 m
13Ewa Kamińska-EichlerPOL2:08.481:02.15 (1)1:06.33 (1)Q
21Anastázie Hajná-FridrichováTCH2:10.311:02.69 (2)1:07.62 (2)Q
32Irene PepinghegeFRG2:11.451:03.34 (3)1:08.11 (3)Q
44Sue HollowayCAN2:13.231:04.33 (4)1:08.90 (4)

Heat #2

Time11:10
PosLaneCompetitorNOCTime250 m250-500 m
14Tatyana KorshunovaURS2:07.901:00.91 (1)1:06.99 (1)Q
23Klára RajnaiHUN2:09.391:02.04 (2)1:07.35 (2)Q
31Roza GeorgievaBUL2:10.511:02.77 (3)1:07.74 (3)Q
42Sheila BurnettGBR2:12.071:04.32 (4)1:07.75 (4)

Heat #3

Time11:20
PosLaneCompetitorNOCTime250 m250-500 m
13Carola ZirzowGDR2:04.2159.59 (1)1:04.62 (1)Q
22Maria MihoreanuROU2:05.721:00.87 (2)1:04.85 (2)Q
34Julie LeachUSA2:09.441:02.61 (3)1:06.83 (3)Q
41Kate OlsenDEN2:12.711:04.64 (4)1:08.07 (4)

Final Round

Date30 July 1976 — 17:00
PosLaneCompetitorNOCTime250 m250-500 m
18Carola ZirzowGDR2:01.0559.51 (2)1:01.54 (1)OB
22Tatyana KorshunovaURS2:03.0759.12 (1)1:03.95 (3)
33Klára RajnaiHUN2:05.011:01.22 (=5)1:03.79 (2)
47Ewa Kamińska-EichlerPOL2:05.161:00.89 (4)1:04.27 (4)
54Maria MihoreanuROU2:05.401:00.30 (3)1:05.10 (7)
66Anastázie Hajná-FridrichováTCH2:06.721:01.67 (8)1:05.05 (6)
71Julie LeachUSA2:06.921:02.53 (9)1:04.39 (5)
85Irene PepinghegeFRG2:07.801:01.48 (7)1:06.32 (8)
99Roza GeorgievaBUL2:08.541:01.22 (=5)1:07.32 (9)