Canoeing at the 1996 Summer Olympics – Men's K-2 500 metres
The men's K-2 500 metres event was a pairs kayaking event conducted as part of the Canoeing at the 1996 Summer Olympics program that took place at Lake Lanier.
Medalists
| Gold | Silver | Bronze |
| Kay Bluhm and Torsten Gutsche (GER) | Beniamino Bonomi and Daniele Scarpa (ITA) | Daniel Collins and Andrew Trim (AUS) |
Results
Heats
23 crews were entered into the event. The top three finishers from each of the three heats advanced directly to the semifinals while the remaining teams were relegated to the repechages.
Repechages
The 14 crews raced in two repechages. The top four finishers from each repechage and the fastest fifth-place finisher advanced directly to the semifinals.
| Repechage 1 | |||
| 1. | Milko Kazanov and Andrian Dushev (BUL) | 1:37.928 | QS |
| 2. | Markus Oscarsson and Staffan Malmsten (SWE) | 1:39.716 | QS |
| 3. | Vidas Kupčinskas and Vaidas Mizeras (LTU) | 1:40.500 | QS |
| 4. | Akram Yurabayev and Vitaly Anosov (UZB) | 1:42.524 | QS |
| 5. | Roberto Heinze Flamand and Ralph Heinze (MEX) | 1:42.848 | |
| 6. | Andrey Mitkovets and Yury Uliachenko (KGZ) | 1:44.324 | |
| 7. | Conor Maloney and Gary Mawer (IRL) | 1:44.375 | |
| Repechage 2 | |||
| 1. | Thor Nielsen and Jesper Staal (DEN) | 1:36.419 | QS |
| 2. | Karel Leština and Jiří Polívka (CZE) | 1:37.119 | QS |
| 3. | Rui Fernandes and Joaquim Queiróz (POR) | 1:37.499 | QS |
| 4. | Diego Cánepa and Sergio Mangín (ARG) | 1:39.535 | QS |
| 5. | David Taboureau and Mark Vendeweyer (BEL) | 1:39.619 | QS |
| 6. | Ilfat Gatyatullin and Dmitry Torlopov (KAZ) | 1:40.215 | |
| 7. | Xu Haifeng and Wu Yubiao (CHN) | 1:41.035 | |
Semifinals
The top four finishers in each of the two semifinals and the faster fifth-place finisher advanced to the final.
| Semifinal 1 | |||
| 1. | Beniamino Bonomi and Daniele Scarpa (ITA) | 1:29.661 | QF |
| 2. | Daniel Collins and Andrew Trim (AUS) | 1:29.937 | QF |
| 3. | Milko Kazanov and Andrian Dushev (BUL) | 1:30.641 | QF |
| 4. | Zsolt Gyulay and Krisztián Bártfai (HUN) | 1:30.725 | QF |
| 5. | Jovino González and Gregorio Vicente (ESP) | 1:31.137 | |
| 6. | Stein Jorgensen and John Mooney (USA) | 1:32.253 | |
| 7. | Karel Leština and Jiří Polívka (CZE) | 1:32.517 | |
| 8. | Vidas Kupčinskas and Vaidas Mizeras (LTU) | 1:32.693 | |
| 9. | Diego Cánepa and Sergio Mangín (ARG) | 1:37.177 | |
| Semifinal 2 | |||
| 1. | Kay Bluhm and Torsten Gutsche (GER) | 1:29.883 | QF |
| 2. | Oleg Gorobiy and Anatoli Tishchenko (RUS) | 1:30.031 | QF |
| 3. | Maciej Freimut and Adam Wysocki (POL) | 1:30.243 | QF |
| 4. | Daniel Stoian and Romică Șerban (ROU) | 1:30.611 | QF |
| 5. | Thor Nielsen and Jesper Staal (DEN) | 1:30.659 | QF |
| 6. | Rui Fernandes and Joaquim Queiróz (POR) | 1:31.559 | |
| 7. | Markus Oscarsson and Staffan Malmsten (SWE) | 1:31.811 | |
| 8. | David Taboureau and Mark Vendeweyer (BEL) | 1:34.807 | |
| 9. | Akram Yurabayev and Vitaly Anosov (UZB) | 1:35.543 | |
Final
The final was held on August 4.
| Kay Bluhm and Torsten Gutsche (GER) | 1:28.697 | |
| Beniamino Bonomi and Daniele Scarpa (ITA) | 1:28.729 | |
| Daniel Collins and Andrew Trim (AUS) | 1:29.409 | |
| 4. | Oleg Gorobiy and Anatoli Tishchenko (RUS) | 1:29.677 |
| 5. | Maciej Freimut and Adam Wysocki (POL) | 1:29.937 |
| 6. | Zsolt Gyulay and Krisztián Bártfai (HUN) | 1:30.001 |
| 7. | Daniel Stoian and Romică Șerban (ROU) | 1:30.063 |
| 8. | Milko Kazanov and Andrian Dushev (BUL) | 1:30.513 |
| 9. | Thor Nielsen and Jesper Staal (DEN) | 1:30.753 |
Hungary led for the first part of the race before fading, leaving the Germans in first. Italy moved ahead fifty meters from the finish before Germany pulled even again with ten meters left to edge ahead and defend their title.
References
- p. 167. (in English and French)
- Wallechinsky, David and Jaime Loucky (2008). "Canoeing: Men's Kayak Pairs 500 Meters". In The Complete Book of the Olympics: 2008 Edition. London: Aurum Press Limited. p. 474.