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Kayak Singles, 500 metres, Women

Date7 – 9 August 2012
StatusOlympic
LocationEton Dorney, Windsor
Participants25 from 25 countries

Inna Osypenko-Radomska of Ukraine, the defending Olympic champion and 2010 World Champion, was a favorite to win the women’s K-1 500 in London, but the event was historically full of strong challengers and the 2012 Olympics was no exception. Germany’s Nicole Reinhardt was the reigning World Champion, having also carried the title in 2005, and had eight World Championship victories in various disciplines, as well as a gold medal from the K-4 500 event at the 2008 Summer Olympics. Reinhardt was injured before the London Games, however, and replaced by Katrin Wagner-Augustin, who had four Olympic and ten World Championship titles. Although these were mostly in K-4 events, she had been the Olympic bronze medalist in the K-1 500 four years earlier and was the reigning European Champion in the event. The traditionally strong Hungarian team had Danuta Kozák, who had five World Championship titles in K-2 and K-4 events, as well as silver from the K-4 500 event in Beijing, and had also won the K-1 500 at the 2011 European Championships.

Of all the kayakers, however, none were more heralded than Josefa Idem-Guerrini. At 47-years-old, Idem-Guerrini had first participated in the Olympic Games in 1984 when, competing for West Germany, she won a bronze medal in the K-2 500. In the K-1 500 she had an Olympic gold medal from 2000, in addition to silver from 2004 and 2008 and bronze from 1996, as well as 22 medals from the World Championship, five of which were gold and two of which (1990 and 2001) were from the K-1 500. In qualifying for the 2012 Summer Olympics, she became the first woman to compete at eight Olympics (in any sport), a continuous string from 1984.

The unpredictable nature of the event was evident right from beginning, as several of the less heralded kayakers finished quicker than the favorites, with Sofia Paldanius of Sweden posting the fastest time overall. Kozák earned the best time in the semi-finals, but Wagner-Augustin was surprisingly eliminated, ending her ability to continue the German dominance in canoeing at the 2012 Games. In the final, Osypenko-Radomska got off to a strong start and led for most of the race, but her strength began wane in the last stretch of the course. She was overtaken by Kozák, who won the gold medal handily, but still managed to earn silver after staving off Bridgitte Hartley of South Africa, who won the bronze. Hartley, whose only major international medal was bronze in the K-1 1000 at the 2009 World Championships, gave South Africa its first ever Olympic medal in canoeing; their previous best results had been seventh, earned by Ruth Nortje in the K-1 500 in 2000 and the women’s K-4 500 team in 2008. Idem-Guerrini finished fifth in her eighth and final Olympics, certainly not the result she had hoped for, but her longevity was an unparalleled accomplishment overall.

PosNumberCompetitorNOCR1SFFinal
1133Danuta KozákHUN1:52.828 (1 h2)1:50.469 (1 h2)1:51.456 (1 h1)Gold
2245Inna Osypenko-RadomskaUKR1:52.268 (4 h3)1:51.515 (2 h1)1:52.685 (2 h1)Silver
3192Bridgitte HartleyRSA1:53.051 (2 h2)1:51.286 (1 h1)1:52.923 (3 h1)Bronze
4240Sofia PaldaniusSWE1:51.212 (1 h3)1:51.945 (3 h2)1:53.197 (4 h1)
5143Josefa IdemITA1:55.619 (3 h2)1:52.232 (1 h3)1:53.223 (5 h1)
6101Rachel CawthornGBR1:53.491 (1 h4)1:52.542 (2 h3)1:53.345 (6 h1)
778Henriette Engel HansenDEN1:52.650 (2 h1)1:51.929 (2 h2)1:54.110 (7 h1)
890Anne RikalaFIN1:52.641 (1 h1)1:51.852 (3 h1)1:54.333 (8 h1)
9123Katrin Wagner-AugustinGER1:53.438 (3 h1)1:53.241 (4 h3)1:52.402 (1 h2)
10169Aneta KoniecznaPOL1:52.069 (3 h3)1:52.193 (4 h1)1:53.356 (2 h2)
11177Teresa PortelaPOR1:51.887 (2 h3)1:53.064 (3 h3)1:53.597 (3 h2)
12214Špela Ponomarenko JanićSLO2:01.520 (5 h4)1:53.341 (5 h3)1:53.718 (4 h2)
13153Nataliya SergeyevaKAZ1:54.445 (3 h4)1:53.888 (4 h2)1:54.707 (5 h2)
1446Émilie FournelCAN1:58.740 (5 h2)1:54.120 (6 h1)1:56.058 (6 h2)
15165Teneale HattonNZL1:56.741 (6 h1)1:54.504 (5 h2)1:56.103 (7 h2)
1615Alana NichollsAUS1:53.823 (2 h4)1:52.224 (5 h1)1:59.033 (8 h2)
17247Carrie JohnsonUSA1:53.983 (4 h1)1:54.628 (6 h3)
18160Mira Verås LarsenNOR1:55.923 (5 h3)1:57.354 (6 h2)
19205Yuliana SalakhovaRUS1:56.621 (4 h2)1:57.761 (7 h3)
2065Darisleydis AmadorCUB1:56.038 (5 h1)1:58.762 (7 h1)
21248Yuliya BorzovaUZB2:03.893 (6 h3)2:00.584 (8 h3)
22213Geraldine LeeSGP2:01.037 (4 h4)2:01.516 (7 h2)
23241Afef Ben IsmailTUN2:07.705 (6 h4)2:15.362 (8 h1)
2438Marharyta TsishkevichBLR2:01.216 (6 h2)– (DQ h2)
25139Arezoo HakimiIRI1:58.598 (7 h1)

Round One

Date7 August 2012 — 10:07
FormatTop six in each heat advanced to semi-finals.

Heat #1

Time10:07
PosLaneCompetitorNOCTime250 m250-500 m Time750-1,000 m Rank
16Anne RikalaFIN1:52.64153.86 (1)58.7803Q
24Henriette Engel HansenDEN1:52.65054.60 (2)58.0501Q
35Katrin Wagner-AugustinGER1:53.43855.04 (4)58.3902Q
47Carrie JohnsonUSA1:53.98354.81 (3)59.1704Q
52Darisleydis AmadorCUB1:56.03856.15 (5)59.8805Q
63Teneale HattonNZL1:56.74156.24 (6)1:00.5006Q
78Arezoo HakimiIRI1:58.59856.48 (7)1:02.1107

Heat #2

Time10:14
PosLaneCompetitorNOCTime250 m250-500 m Time750-1,000 m Rank
15Danuta KozákHUN1:52.82855.54 (2)57.2801Q
26Bridgitte HartleyRSA1:53.05155.45 (1)57.6002Q
34Josefa IdemITA1:55.61956.19 (4)59.4203Q
47Yuliana SalakhovaRUS1:56.62156.85 (5)59.7704Q
53Émilie FournelCAN1:58.74056.10 (3)1:02.6405Q
62Marharyta TsishkevichBLR2:01.21657.42 (6)1:03.7906Q

Heat #3

Time10:21
PosLaneCompetitorNOCTime250 m250-500 m Time750-1,000 m Rank
16Sofia PaldaniusSWE1:51.21254.18 (2)57.0302Q
24Teresa PortelaPOR1:51.88754.65 (3)57.2303Q
33Aneta KoniecznaPOL1:52.06955.06 (4)57.0001Q
45Inna Osypenko-RadomskaUKR1:52.26853.85 (1)58.4104Q
57Mira Verås LarsenNOR1:55.92356.76 (5)59.1605Q
62Yuliya BorzovaUZB2:03.89359.11 (6)1:04.7806Q

Heat #4

Time10:28
PosLaneCompetitorNOCTime250 m250-500 m Time750-1,000 m Rank
16Rachel CawthornGBR1:53.49154.89 (2)58.6002Q
24Alana NichollsAUS1:53.82354.63 (1)59.1903Q
35Nataliya SergeyevaKAZ1:54.44556.38 (3)58.0601Q
47Geraldine LeeSGP2:01.03758.51 (5)1:02.5204Q
53Špela Ponomarenko JanićSLO2:01.52058.31 (4)1:03.2105Q
62Afef Ben IsmailTUN2:07.7051:02.51 (6)1:05.1906Q

Semi-Finals

Date7 August 2012 — 11:30
FormatTop two in each heat and two fastest number threes advanced to final, places 3-5 and fastest number 6 advanced to final B.

Heat #1

Time11:30
PosLaneCompetitorNOCTime250 m250-500 m Time750-1,000 m Rank
16Bridgitte HartleyRSA1:51.28653.29 (2)57.9901Q
23Inna Osypenko-RadomskaUKR1:51.51552.96 (1)58.5505Q
35Anne RikalaFIN1:51.85253.50 (3)58.3504Q
47Aneta KoniecznaPOL1:52.19354.09 (5)58.1003QB
54Alana NichollsAUS1:52.22454.17 (6)58.0502QB
61Émilie FournelCAN1:54.12053.86 (4)1:00.2606QB
72Darisleydis AmadorCUB1:58.76254.51 (7)1:04.2507
88Afef Ben IsmailTUN2:15.3621:05.19 (8)1:10.1708

Heat #2

Time11:37
PosLaneCompetitorNOCTime250 m250-500 m Time750-1,000 m Rank
15Danuta KozákHUN1:50.46954.05 (1)56.4101Q
24Henriette Engel HansenDEN1:51.92954.51 (2)57.4103Q
36Sofia PaldaniusSWE1:51.94554.89 (3)57.0502Q
47Nataliya SergeyevaKAZ1:53.88855.93 (5)57.9504QB
58Teneale HattonNZL1:54.50455.72 (4)58.7805QB
62Mira Verås LarsenNOR1:57.35458.12 (6)59.2306
73Geraldine LeeSGP2:01.51659.55 (7)1:01.9607
DQ1Marharyta TsishkevichBLR– (–)

Heat #3

Time11:44
PosLaneCompetitorNOCTime250 m250-500 m Time750-1,000 m Rank
17Josefa IdemITA1:52.23255.62 (6)56.6101Q
25Rachel CawthornGBR1:52.54255.53 (5)57.0102Q
36Teresa PortelaPOR1:53.06455.30 (4)57.7603QB
44Katrin Wagner-AugustinGER1:53.24154.81 (1)58.4305QB
58Špela Ponomarenko JanićSLO1:53.34154.94 (2)58.4004QB
62Carrie JohnsonUSA1:54.62855.19 (3)59.4306
73Yuliana SalakhovaRUS1:57.76156.98 (7)1:00.7807
81Yuliya BorzovaUZB2:00.58459.50 (8)1:01.0808

Final Round

Date9 August 2012 — 10:08

Final A

Time10:15
PosLaneCompetitorNOCTime250 m250-500 m Time750-1,000 m Rank
16Danuta KozákHUN1:51.45654.23 (2)57.2201
22Inna Osypenko-RadomskaUKR1:52.68553.67 (1)59.0107
35Bridgitte HartleyRSA1:52.92355.14 (5)57.7804
48Sofia PaldaniusSWE1:53.19755.05 (4)58.1405
54Josefa IdemITA1:53.22355.76 (8)57.4602
67Rachel CawthornGBR1:53.34555.67 (7)57.6703
73Henriette Engel HansenDEN1:54.11055.28 (6)58.8306
81Anne RikalaFIN1:54.33354.60 (3)59.7308

Final B

Time10:08
PosLaneCompetitorNOCTime250 m250-500 m Time750-1,000 m Rank
17Katrin Wagner-AugustinGER1:52.40253.90 (1)58.5002
26Aneta KoniecznaPOL1:53.35653.99 (2)59.3605
35Teresa PortelaPOR1:53.59754.55 (4)59.0404
43Špela Ponomarenko JanićSLO1:53.71856.72 (8)56.9901
54Nataliya SergeyevaKAZ1:54.70755.93 (7)58.7703
61Émilie FournelCAN1:56.05854.31 (3)1:01.7407
78Teneale HattonNZL1:56.10355.84 (6)1:00.2606
82Alana NichollsAUS1:59.03355.75 (5)1:03.2808