Kayak Singles, 500 metres, Women

Birgit Schmidt, the dominant force in women’s canoeing for many years, had retired after the 1988 Summer Olympics, but returned to compete at the 1992 Games for a unified Germany. Vanya Gesheva, the Bulgarian who had dealt Schmidt a surprising defeat in the 1988 K-1 500, had retired, and thus the German had new challenges to overcome, including one from Josefa Idem, the 1990 World Champion and 1989 and 1991 World bronze medalist who had competed for West Germany at the 1984 and 1988 Games, but was now racing for Italy by virtue of her marriage to her coach Guglielmo Guerrini. Another contender was Poland’s Izabella Dylewska-Światowiak, the 1988 Olympic bronze medalist. Schmidt set an Olympic record in the seeding round that was bested by Idem in the semi-finals, who defeated Schmidt in the process, and then again by Hungary’s Rita Kőbán, the 1991 World runner-up, who outperformed Dylewska-Światowiak. The final was a battle between Schmidt and Kőbán, but the German’s determination won through and she captured the gold medal by 0.36 seconds. Dylewska-Światowiak, meanwhile, came in 0.4 seconds later and edged out Idem for bronze by approximately the same margin. Kőbán would have her revenge on Schmidt in the K-4 500, where the Hungarians won gold and the Germans took silver, and would earn a full complement of medals at the Games by capturing bronze in the K-2 500.