Competition format
The competition consisted of three main rounds (heats, semifinals, and finals) as well as a repechage. The 13 boats were divided into three heats for the first round, with 4 or 5 boats in each heat. The top three boats in each heat (9 boats total) advanced directly to the semifinals. The remaining 4 boats were placed in the repechage. The repechage featured a single heat; the top three boats advanced to the semifinals, while the last place boat was eliminated (13th place overall). The 12 semifinalist boats were divided into two heats of 6 boats each. The top three boats in each semifinal (6 boats total) advanced to the "A" final to compete for medals and 4th through 6th place; the bottom three boats in each semifinal were sent to the "B" final for 7th through 12th. All races were over a 2000 metre course. ==Results==
Results
Heats The heats were held on 20 September, a sunny day with 17–18 °C temperatures and 0.9–1.1 m/s west to west-northwest winds. The top three boats in each heat advanced to the semifinals, with all others going to the repechage. No boats were eliminated in this round. Heat 1 The first heat saw the Hungarian boat take an early lead, by 0.42 seconds over the East Germans at the 500 metre mark. Hungary, however, had the worst second 500 metres of any team and fell back to fourth place. Australia took the lead by halfway; they and East Germany battled for the top spot, but both had little doubt that they would advance. Poland had taken over the third spot when Hungary fell back, and the contest between those two would decide the last advancement place. Hungary was behind by nearly a second at the 1500 metre point, but was able to successfully overtake Poland in the last quarter. The United States trailed the entire way. Finals Final B The "B" final was held on 23 September, a sunny day with 17.5 °C temperatures and 0.6 m/s west-southwest wind. The six teams in the race competed for 7th through 12th place. Canada led early and maintained the lead through the 1500 metre mark, but faltered in the last quarter and dropped to third (and nearly to fourth). Poland and the Netherlands jockeyed for second and third throughout much of the race, taking advantage of Canada's weak final 500 metres to move into first (Poland) and second (the Netherlands). Hungary and Czechoslovakia made second-half pushes to get by Argentina, but neither could quite catch Canada. Final A The "A" final was held on 25 September. The temperature was 18 °C, the weather was sunny, and wind was 2.9 m/s northeast. East Germany led at 500 metres, followed closely by Italy. The East Germans could not keep the pace, however, and by the halfway mark Italy had taken the lead, with the Soviet Union second and East Germany third. This order held through 1500 metres (with Italy widening its lead to 3 seconds), before the Norwegian squad made a strong push to pass the Soviets and East Germans. Norway was far enough behind Italy to not seriously challenge for the gold, but took silver. The East Germans outpaced the Soviets in the last quarter, taking the bronze medal. Australia trailed West Germany slightly for fifth place throughout most of the race, but passed the West Germans near the end. ==Final classification==