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

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

Main article: Canoeing at the 2020 Summer Olympics – 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

Quarter-finals

½

Semi-finals

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 1 Rank Lane Canoer Country Time Notes 1 5 Josef Dostál  Czech Republic 3:37.342 SF 2 7 Thomas Green  Australia 3:39.492 SF 3 4 Artuur Peters  Belgium 3:41.967 QF 4 3 Maxim Spesivtsev  ROC 3:42.888 QF 5 6 Simon McTavish  Canada 3:43.512 QF 6 2 Kohl Horton  Cook Islands 4:24.679 QF

Heat 2 Rank Lane Canoer Country Time Notes 1 5 Bálint Kopasz  Hungary 3:39.084 SF 2 4 Agustín Vernice  Argentina 3:40.430 SF 3 6 Samuele Burgo  Italy 3:43.746 QF 4 3 Étienne Hubert  France 3:45.072 QF 5 2 Ali Aghamirzaei  Iran 3:48.609 QF 6 7 Roman Anoshkin  ROC 3:50.580 QF

Heat 3 Rank Lane Canoer Country Time Notes 1 5 Fernando Pimenta  Portugal 3:40.323 SF 2 4 Peter Gelle  Slovakia 3:42.131 SF 3 3 Jean van der Westhuyzen  Australia 3:46.186 QF 4 2 Guillaume Burger  France 3:53.241 QF 5 6 Vagner Souta  Brazil 3:57.178 QF

Heat 4 Rank Lane Canoer Country Time Notes 1 5 Aleh Yurenia  Belarus 3:43.444 SF 2 4 Bojan Zdelar  Serbia 3:45.074 SF 3 3 Lars Magne Ullvang  Norway 3:47.253 QF 4 2 Tuva'a Clifton  Samoa 4:11.029 QF 5 6 Amado Cruz  Belize 4:13.080 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 1 Rank Lane Canoer Country Time Notes 1 3 Maxim Spesivtsev  ROC 3:44.136 SF 2 5 Zhang Dong  China 3:44.269 SF 3 2 Vagner Souta  Brazil 3:52.402 4 6 Ali Aghamirzaei  Iran 3:52.834 5 4 Tuva'a Clifton  Samoa 4:21.301 6 7 Kohl Horton  Cook Islands 4:39.138

Quarterfinal 2 Rank Lane Canoer Country Time Notes 1 4 Artuur Peters  Belgium 3:45.712 SF 2 5 Samuele Burgo  Italy 3:45.993 SF 3 2 Roman Anoshkin  ROC 3:46.576 4 6 Simon McTavish  Canada 3:52.467 5 3 Guillaume Burger  France 3:52.817 6 7 Amado Cruz  Belize 4:15.262

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.

Semifinal 1 Rank Lane Canoer Country Time Notes 1 5 Bálint Kopasz  Hungary 3:24.558 OB, FA 2 4 Josef Dostál  Czech Republic 3:25.387 FA 3 3 Jacob Schopf  Germany 3:25.586 FA 4 1 Zhang Dong  China 3:26.246 FA 5 7 Artuur Peters  Belgium 3:26.773 FB 6 8 Étienne Hubert  France 3:27.319 FB 7 2 Peter Gelle  Slovakia 3:28.255 FB 8 6 Bojan Zdelar  Serbia 3:29.525 FB

Semifinal 2 Rank Lane Canoer Country Time Notes 1 5 Fernando Pimenta  Portugal 3:22.942 FA, OB 2 2 Ádám Varga  Hungary 3:23.634 FA 3 3 Thomas Green  Australia 3:24.612 FA 4 6 Agustín Vernice  Argentina 3:24.734 FA 5 8 Samuele Burgo  Italy 3:25.673 FB 6 4 Aleh Yurenia  Belarus 3:27.323 FB 7 7 Maxim Spesivtsev  ROC 3:27.372 FB 8 1 Jean van der Westhuyzen  Australia 3:28.287 FB

Finals

Final A Rank Lane Canoer Country Time Notes 5 Bálint Kopasz  Hungary 3:20.643 OB 6 Ádám Varga  Hungary 3:22.431 4 Fernando Pimenta  Portugal 3:22.478 4 7 Jacob Schopf  Germany 3:22.554 5 3 Josef Dostál  Czech Republic 3:26.610 6 1 Zhang Dong  China 3:28.103 7 2 Thomas Green  Australia 3:28.360 8 8 Agustín Vernice  Argentina 3:28.503

Final B Rank Lane Canoer Country Time Notes 9 4 Samuele Burgo  Italy 3:26.169 10 5 Artuur Peters  Belgium 3:26.781 11 8 Jean van der Westhuyzen  Australia 3:26.955 12 6 Aleh Yurenia  Belarus 3:27.190 13 2 Maxim Spesivtsev  ROC 3:27.909 14 7 Peter Gelle  Slovakia 3:28.240 15 3 Étienne Hubert  France 3:31.553 16 1 Bojan Zdelar  Serbia 3:31.689

References

1. "Canoe Sprint Competition Schedule". Tokyo 2020. Archived from the original on 3 July 2021. Retrieved 25 June 2021.
2. "Qualification System – Games of the XXXI Olympiad – Canoe Sprint" (PDF). International Canoe Federation. Retrieved 25 June 2021.
3. "Saúl Craviotto will lead the Spanish team for Tokyo 2020". 15 May 2021. Retrieved 15 May 2021.
4. "Belize and Mozambique awarded tripartite Olympic quotas". ICF. 21 May 2021. Retrieved 25 June 2021.
5. "Refugee Olympic Team" (PDF).
6. Canoe Sprint Quota Allocation
7. "Canoe Sprint Progression System" (PDF). ICF. Retrieved 25 June 2021.
8. "Canoe Sprint". IOC. Archived from the original on 3 July 2021. Retrieved 25 June 2021.
9. "Canoe Sprint Competition Schedule". Tokyo 2020. Retrieved 1 March 2020.