| Canoeing at the 1972 Summer Olympics | ||
|---|---|---|
Slalom | ||
| C-1 | men | |
| C-2 | men | |
| K-1 | men | women |
Sprint | ||
| C-1 1000 m | men | |
| C-2 1000 m | men | |
| K-1 500 m | women | |
| K-1 1000 m | men | |
| K-2 500 m | women | |
| K-2 1000 m | men | |
| K-4 1000 m | men | |
The men's K-2 1000 metres event was a pairs kayaking event conducted as part of the Canoeing at the 1972 Summer Olympics program.
 Gold |  Silver |  Bronze |
 Nikolai Gorbachev and Viktor Kratasyuk (URS) |  József Deme and János Rátkai (HUN) |  Władysław Szuszkiewicz and Rafał Piszcz (POL) |
The 25 crews first raced in three heats on September 5. The top three finishers from each of the heats advanced directly to the semifinals. One was disqualified and the remaining 15 teams were relegated to the repechage heats.
Norway was disqualified for reasons not given in the official report.
Taking place on September 7, the top three competitors in each of the three repechages advanced to the semifinals.
| Repechage 1 | |||
| 1. |  Jens Sørensen and Jörgen Andersen (DEN) | 3:40.52 | QS |
| 2. |  Herminio Menéndez and José María Esteban (ESP) | 3:40.54 | QS |
| 3. |  Douglas Parnham and Robert Avery (GBR) | 3:40.65 | QS |
| 4. |  Howard Watkins and Brendan O'Connell (IRL) | 3:45.18 | |
| 5. |  Donald Cooper and Tom Dooney (NZL) | 3:45.65 | |
| 6. |  Ivan Ohmut and Miloš Kralj (YUG) | 3:46.05 | |
| Repechage 2 | |||
| 1. |  Adrian Powell and Graham Johnson (AUS) | 3:41.77 | QS |
| 2. |  John Brosius and Alan Whitney (USA) | 3:47.91 | QS |
| 3. |  Dennis Barré and Jean Barre (CAN) | 3:49.48 | QS |
| 4. |  Barthélemy Koffi Baugré and Paul Gnamia M'Boule (CIV) | 3:54.03 | |
| Repechage 3 | |||
| 1. |  Jean-Pierre Cordebois and Didier Niquet (FRA) | 3:40.44 | QS |
| 2. |  Marc Moens and Herman Naegels (BEL) | 3:41.23 | QS |
| 3. |  Berndt Andersson and Bo Berglund (SWE) | 3:42.93 | QS |
| 4. |  Edicto Gilbert and Rogelio Chirino (CUB) | 3:44.15 | |
| 5. |  Gilberto Soriano and Horacio Flores (MEX) | 3:50.61 | |
The top three finishers in each of the three semifinals (raced on September 8) advanced to the final.
| Semifinal 1 | |||
| 1. | József Deme and János Rátkai (HUN) | 3:30.71 | QF |
| 2. | Władysław Szuszkiewicz and Rafal Piszcz (POL) | 3:34.50 | QF |
| 3. |  Hans-Jürgen Riemenschneider and Horst Mattern (FRG) | 3:35.16 | QF |
| 4. | Jens Sørensen and Jörgen Andersen (DEN) | 3:38.61 | |
| 5. | Berndt Andersson and Bo Berglund (SWE) | 3:41.64 | |
| 6. | John Brosius and Alan Whitney (USA) | 3:46.43 | |
| Semifinal 2 | |||
| 1. |  Reiner Kurth and Alexander Slatnow (GDR) | 3:32.82 | QF |
| 2. |  Coştel Cosniţǎ and Vasile Simiocenco (ROU) | 3:34.60 | QF |
| 3. |  Vasil Chilingrov and Aleksandar Donkov (BUL) | 3:36.39 | QF |
| 4. | Adrian Powell and Graham Johnson (AUS) | 3:36.40 | |
| 5. | Douglas Parnham and Robert Avery (GBR) | 3:39.36 | |
| 6. | Marc Moens and Herman Naegels (BEL) | 3:42.52 | |
| Semifinal 3 | |||
| 1. | Nikolai Gorbachev and Viktor Kratasyuk (URS) | 3:30.69 | QF |
| 2. |  Günther Pfaff and Helmut Hediger (AUT) | 3:34.09 | QF |
| 3. | Jean-Pierre Cordebois and Didier Niquet (FRA) | 3:35.21 | QF |
| 4. | Herminio Menéndez and José María Esteban (ESP) | 3:35.46 | |
| 5. | Dennis Barré and Jean Barre (CAN) | 3:38.56 | |
| 6. |  Paolo Malacarne and Francesco De Santis (ITA) | 3:40.06 | |
The final was held on September 9.
| | Nikolai Gorbachev and Viktor Kratasyuk (URS) | 3:31.23 |
| | József Deme and János Rátkai (HUN) | 3:32.00 |
| | Władysław Szuszkiewicz and Rafal Piszcz (POL) | 3:33.63 |
| 4. | Reiner Kurth and Alexander Slatnow (GDR) | 3:34.16 |
| 5. | Coştel Cosniţǎ and Vasile Simiocenco (ROU) | 3:35.66 |
| 6. | Jean-Pierre Cordebois and Didier Niquet (FRA) | 3:36.51 |
| 7. | Günther Pfaff and Helmut Hediger (AUT) | 3:36.61 |
| 8. | Hans-Jürgen Riemenschneider and Horst Mattern (FRG) | 3:38.67 |
| 9. | Vasil Chilingrov and Aleksandar Donkov (BUL) | 3:45.40 |
The men's K-2 1000 metres event was a pairs kayaking event conducted as part of the Canoeing at the 1964 Summer Olympics programme on Lake Sagami, Japan.
The men's K-4 1000 metres event was a fours kayaking event conducted as part of the Canoeing at the 1964 Summer Olympics programme on Lake Sagami, Japan. This event debuted at these games and is only one of two events that has been at every ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships.
The men's K-1 1000 metres event was an individual kayaking event conducted as part of the Canoeing at the 1960 Summer Olympics.
The men's K-2 1000 metres event was a pairs kayaking event conducted as part of the Canoeing at the 1960 Summer Olympics program on Lake Albano.
The men's K-1 4 × 500 metres event was a relay kayaking event conducted over 500 meters as part of the Canoeing at the 1960 Summer Olympics program on Lake Albano. This would be the only time this event was held in the Summer Olympics though it was part of the ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships from 1948 to 1975.
The men's K-1 1000 metres event was an individual kayaking event conducted as part of the Canoeing at the 1968 Summer Olympics program. Heats and the first repechage were timed in tenths of a second (0.1) while semifinals and finals were timed in hundredths of a second (0.01) in the official report.
The men's K-2 1000 metres event was a pairs kayaking event conducted as part of the Canoeing at the 1968 Summer Olympics program. In the official report, heats were shown timed in tenths of a second (0.1) while the rest of the events were shown timed in hundredths of a second (0.01).
The men's K-1 1000 metres event was an individual kayaking event conducted as part of the Canoeing at the 1972 Summer Olympics program.
The men's K-4 1000 metres event was a fours kayaking event conducted as part of the Canoeing at the 1972 Summer Olympics program.
The men's C-2 1000 metres event was an open-style, pairs canoeing event conducted as part of the Canoeing at the 1972 Summer Olympics program.
The men's K-1 1000 metres event was an individual kayaking event conducted as part of the Canoeing at the 1976 Summer Olympics program.
The men's K-2 1000 metres event was a pairs kayaking event conducted as part of the Canoeing at the 1976 Summer Olympics program.
The men's K-1 1000 metres event was an individual kayaking event conducted as part of the Canoeing at the 1980 Summer Olympics program.
The men's K-1 1000 metres event was an individual kayaking event conducted as part of the Canoeing at the 1984 Summer Olympics program.
The men's K-2 1000 metres event was a pairs kayaking event conducted as part of the Canoeing at the 1984 Summer Olympics program.
The men's K-1 500 metres event was an individual kayaking event conducted as part of the Canoeing at the 1988 Summer Olympics program.
The men's K-1 1000 metres event was an individual kayaking event conducted as part of the Canoeing at the 1988 Summer Olympics program.
The men's K-2 500 metres event was a pairs kayaking event conducted as part of the Canoeing at the 1988 Summer Olympics program.
The men's K-2 1000 metres event was a pairs kayaking event conducted as part of the Canoeing at the 1988 Summer Olympics program.
The men's K-4 1000 metres event was a fours kayaking event conducted as part of the Canoeing at the 1988 Summer Olympics program.
