Kayak Doubles, 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. She did not, however, take part in the K-2 500, leaving that task to her old partner, 1988 Olympic K-2 and K-4 500 champion Anke von Seck, and 1988 Olympic K-4 500 champion Ramona Portwich. This duo had won the event at the last two World Championships, while Seck had taken the 1989 edition with Heike Singer, and thus they were strong favorites in Barcelona. Indeed, the duo set an Olympic record in every round, although the final was close, as the top three finishers crossed the line within 0.52 seconds of each other, the top five within 0.85 seconds, and the top seven within 1.17 seconds. In the silver medal position were Sweden’s Susanne Gunnarsson and Agneta Andersson, the latter of whom was a 1984 Olympic champion in both the K-1 and K-2 500. Bronze, meanwhile, went to Hungary’s Rita Kőbán and Éva Dónusz, the latter of whom had thrice been runner-up to the Germans at the World Championships with Erika Mészáros. Most of the medalists in this event would also earn laurels in the K-4 500: the Hungarians were the victors, the Germans were runners-up, and the Swedes finished in third (although Gunnarsson was not among them). Kőbán had also been runner-up in the K-1 500 earlier in the day.