The women's K-1 500 metres event was an individual kayak

Kayak

A kayak is a small, relatively narrow, human-powered boat primarily designed to be manually propelled by means of a double blade paddle.The traditional kayak has a covered deck and one or more cockpits, each seating one paddler...

ing event conducted as part of the Canoeing at the 1976 Summer Olympics

Canoeing at the 1976 Summer Olympics

Canoeing at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Canada consisted of 11 events, all in canoe sprint, held at the rowing basin on Île Notre-Dame. The canoe slalom events introduced at the previous Games in Munich were not included in the Montreal program though four 500 m events for men were...

 program.

Medalists

Gold	Silver	Bronze

Heats

The 15 competitors first raced in two heats on July 28. The top three finishers from each of the heats advanced directly to the semifinals while the rest competed in the repechages.

Heat 1
1.		2:12.38	QS
2.		2:12.54	QS
3.		2:14.90	QS
4.		2:15.00	QR
5.		2:16.43	QR
6.		2:21.21	QR
7.		2:22.14	QR
8.		2:22.38	QR
Heat 2
1.		2:11.58	QS
2.		2:13.00	QS
3.		2:13.90	QS
4.		2:14.23	QR
5.		2:17.07	QR
6.		2:18.26	QR
7.		2:18.86	QR

Repechages

Taking place on July 28, the top three finishers from each repechage advanced to the semifinals.

Repechage 1
1.		2:06.60	QS
2.		2:10.59	QS
3.		2:11.39	QS
4.		2:11.61
5.		2:15.72
Repechage 2
1.		2:10.22	QS
2.		2:10.57	QS
3.		2:13.10	QS
4.		2:14.60

Semifinals

The top three finishers in each of the three semifinals (raced on July 30) advanced to the final.

Semifinal 1
1.		2:08.48	QF
2.		2:10.31	QF
3.		2:11.45	QF
4.		2:13.23
Semifinal 2
1.		2:07.90	QF
2.		2:09.39	QF
3.		2:10.51	QF
4.		2:12.07
Semifinal 3
1.		2:04.21	QF
2.		2:05.72	QF
3.		2:09.44	QF
4.		2:12.71

Final

The final was held on July 30.

		2:01.05
		2:03.07
		2:05.01
4.		2:05.16
5.		2:05.40
6.		2:06.72
7.		2:06.92
8.		2:07.80
9.		2:08.54

East German boat designers spent a month studying the Olympic course in Montreal before returning home to construct fiberglass canoe

Canoe

A canoe or Canadian canoe is a small narrow boat, typically human-powered, though it may also be powered by sails or small electric or gas motors. Canoes are usually pointed at both bow and stern and are normally open on top, but can be decked over A canoe (North American English) or Canadian...

s and kayak

Kayak

A kayak is a small, relatively narrow, human-powered boat primarily designed to be manually propelled by means of a double blade paddle.The traditional kayak has a covered deck and one or more cockpits, each seating one paddler...

s that curved inward when placed in the water, allowing them to become longer and faster. Zirzow used one of those kayaks to make up for a poor start in the final to win gold.