Kayak Doubles, 1,000 metres, Men

With various partners, Italian Antonio Rossi had been the 1996 Olympic, 1997 European, and 1995, 1997, and 1998 World Champion in the K-2 1000. Partnered with Beniamino Bonomi at the 2000 Summer Olympics, his was the favored nation to take gold at the Games. The reigning European World Champions, Juraj Bača and Michal Riszdorfer of Slovakia, however, would certainly present a challenge. These two nations met in the opening round and both advanced directly to the finals, although the victorious Italians were separated from the Slovakians in the rankings by Henrik Nilsson and Markus Oscarsson of Sweden. Hungary’s Krisztián Bártfai and Krisztián Veréb, the latter of whom was a 1998 World bronze medalist, took the other heat. Italy dominated the medal round, taking gold with relative ease, while the remaining podium spots were decided between Sweden, Hungary, and the German duo of Andreas Ihle and Olaf Winter, the latter of whom was a 1999 World bronze medalist. These nations finished in that order with only 0.552 seconds separating them.