Canadian Singles, 500 metres, Men

East Germany’s Olaf Heukrodt was a five-time World Champion in the C-1 500 (1981, 1982, 1985-1987), as well as the 1980 Olympic bronze medalist, and likely would have taken gold in 1984 had his nation not been part of the Soviet-led boycott. He was a strong favorite at the 1988 Games, but he lost his heat to the Soviet Union’s Mykhailo Slivinsky, who set an Olympic record, as well as Martin Marinov of Bulgaria, the 1987 World runner-up in the C-1 1000. Attila Szabó of Hungary, the 1987 World bronze medalist in the C-1 500, took the other heat, while a third was not held due to the withdraw of three nations from the event. Slivinsky was again the fastest in the semi-finals, helping to eliminate Larry Cain, the defending Olympic champion from Canada, while Heukrodt and Marinov won the other heats. The final got started after four false starts, with Heukrodt leading the entire race and winning the gold medal. Slivinsky and Marinov attempted to close the gap, but were unsuccessful, with the Soviet capturing silver ahead of the Bulgarian by the slimmest of margins: 0.01 seconds. This was not Heukrodt’s only success in Seoul, as he was also runner-up in the C-2 1000 the next day.