Canoeing at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Men's K-1 1000 metres

Men's K-1 1000 metres at the Games of the XXXII Olympiad
Canoeing pictogram
Venue	Sea Forest Waterway
Dates	2 August 2021 (heats and quarterfinal) 3 August 2021 (semifinal & final)
Competitors	27 from 23 nations
Winning time	3:20.643
Medalists
Bálint Kopasz  Hungary Ádám Varga  Hungary Fernando Pimenta  Portugal
← 2016 2024 →

The men's K-1 1000 metres sprint canoeing event at the 2020 Summer Olympics took place on 2 and 3 August 2021 at the Sea Forest Waterway.^[1] At least 15 canoeists from at least 15 nations competed.^[2]

Background

This was the 20th appearance of the event, one of four events to have appeared every Summer Games since the introduction of canoeing in 1936.

The reigning World Champion is Bálint Kopasz of Hungary. The reigning Olympic champion is Marcus Walz of Spain, who will not defend his title; he is not among the 6 men's kayakers on Spain's team for 2020.^[3]

Qualification

A National Olympic Committee (NOC) could qualify one place in the event, though could enter up to 2 boats if it earned enough quota places through other women's kayak events. A total of 13 qualification places were available, initially allocated as follows:

• 1 place for the host nation, provided it qualified no other men's kayak places
• 5 places awarded through the 2019 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships
• 6 places awarded through continental tournaments, 1 per continent except 2 places for Europe
• 1 place awarded through the 2021 Canoe Sprint World Cup Stage 2.

Qualifying places were awarded to the NOC, not to the individual canoeist who earned the place.^[2] Two additional spots were added: a Tripartite Commission invitation (for Amado Cruz of Belize) and a Refugee Olympic Team invitation for Saeid Fazloula.^[4][5]

The World Championships quota places were allocated as follows:^[6]

Rank	Kayaker	Nation	Qualification	Selected competitor
1	Bálint Kopasz	Hungary	6 places from K-4 and K-2	Could enter via K-1 500, K-2, or K-4
2	Josef Dostál	Czech Republic	Earned quota in K-2 1000 m	Could enter via K-1 500, K-2, or K-4
3	Fernando Pimenta	Portugal	Quota #1 in K-1 1000m
4	Peter Gelle	Slovakia	Quota #2 in K-1 1000m
5	Maxim Spesivtsev	ROC	Quota #3 in K-1 1000m
6	Aleh Yurenia	Belarus	Quota #4 in K-1 1000m
7	Étienne Hubert	France	Earned quota in K-2 1000 m	Could enter via K-1 500, K-2, or K-4
8	Roi Rodríguez	Spain	6 places from K-4 and K-2	Could enter via K-1 500, K-2, or K-4
9	Agustín Vernice	Argentina	Quota #5 in K-1 1000m
10	Jean van der Westhuyzen	Australia	6 places from K-4 and K-2	Could enter via K-1 500, K-2, or K-4
11	Bojan Zdelar	Serbia	Reallocated host quota in K-1 1000m

Continental, World Cup, and other places:^[6]

Nation	Qualification	Selected competitor
Tunisia	Africa quota in K-1 1000 m
Brazil	Americas quota in K-1 1000 m
Iran	Asia quota in K-1 1000 m	Ali Aghamirzaei
Belgium	Europe quota #1 in K-1 1000 m
Norway	Europe quota #2 in K-1 1000 m
Cook Islands	Oceania quota in K-1 1000 m
China	World Cup quota in K-1 1000 m
Belize	Tripartite Invitation	Amado Cruz[4]
Refugee Olympic Team	Refugee Team Invitation	Saeid Fazloula[5]

Nations with men's kayak quota spots from the K-1 200 metres, K-2 1000 metres, or K-4 500 metres could enter (additional) boats as well.

Competition format

Sprint canoeing uses a four-round format for events with at least 11 boats, with heats, quarterfinals, semifinals, and finals. The specifics of the progression format depend on the number of boats ultimately entered.^[7]

The course is a flatwater course 9 metres wide. The name of the event describes the particular format within sprint canoeing. The "K" format means a kayak, with the canoeist sitting, using a double-bladed paddle to paddle, and steering with a foot-operated rudder (as opposed to a canoe, with a kneeling canoeist, single-bladed paddle, and no rudder). The "1" is the number of canoeists in each boat. The "1000 metres" is the distance of each race.^[8]

Schedule

The event was held over two consecutive days, with two rounds per day. All sessions started at 9:30 a.m. local time, though there are multiple events with races in each session.^[9]

Legend

H

Heats

¼

Quarterfinals

½

Semifinals

F

Final

Sprint

Event↓/Date →	Mon 2		Tue 3		Wed 4		Thu 5		Fri 6		Sat 7
Men's K-1 1000 m	H	¼	½	F

Results

Heats

Progression System: 1st-2nd to SF, rest to QF.

Heat 5

Rank	Lane	Canoer	Country	Time	Notes
1	4	Jacob Schopf	Germany	3:39.504	SF
2	2	Ádám Varga	Hungary	3:39.650	SF
3	5	Zhang Dong	China	3:40.955	QF
4	3	Saeid Fazloula	Refugee Olympic Team	3:52.631	QF
5	6	Mohamed Mrabet	Tunisia	4:02.148	QF

Quarterfinals

Progression: 1st-2nd to SF, rest out.

Quarterfinal 3

Rank	Lane	Canoer	Country	Time	Notes
1	4	Jean van der Westhuyzen	Australia	3:46.104	SF
2	5	Étienne Hubert	France	3:46.274	SF
3	3	Lars Magne Ullvang	Norway	3:49.830
4	2	Saeid Fazloula	Refugee Olympic Team	3:52.614
5	6	Mohamed Mrabet	Tunisia	3:56.325

Semifinals

Progression System: 1st-4th to Final A, rest to Final B.

Finals

References