The 28 competitors first raced in three heats for position in one of three semifinal races. As there are 9 lanes on the course, 27 of 28 kayakers moved on. The heats were raced on August 24.
The top three finishers in each of the three semifinals qualified for the final. Fourth place and higher competitors were eliminated. The semifinals were raced on August 26.
Semifinal 1 |
1. | {{flagIOCathlete|Eirik Verås Larsen|NOR|2004 Summer}} | 1:38.361 | QF |
2. | {{flagIOCathlete|Ákos Vereckei|HUN|2004 Summer}} | 1:38.737 | QF |
3. | {{flagIOCathlete|Javier Correa|ARG|2004 Summer}} | 1:39.525 | QF |
4. | {{flagIOCathlete|Alvydas Duonėla|LTU|2004 Summer}} | 1:40.253 |
5. | {{flagIOCathlete|Anton Ryahov|UZB|2004 Summer}} | 1:40.737 |
6. | {{flagIOCathlete|Kimmo Latvamaki|FIN|2004 Summer}} | 1:40.753 |
7. | {{flagIOCathlete|Andrey Shkiotov|RUS|2004 Summer}} | 1:40.765 |
8. | {{flagIOCathlete|Sebastian Cuattrin|BRA|2004 Summer}} | 1:42.213 |
9. | {{flagIOCathlete|Paweł Baumann|POL|2004 Summer}} | 1:43.125 |
Semifinal 2 |
1. | {{flagIOCathlete|Ian Wynne|GBR|2004 Summer}} | 1:38.911 | QF |
2. | {{flagIOCathlete|Lutz Altepost|GER|2004 Summer}} | 1:39.643 | QF |
3. | {{flagIOCathlete|Bâbak Amir-Tahmasseb|FRA|2004 Summer}} | 1:40.467 | QF |
4. | {{flagIOCathlete|Rami Zur|USA|2004 Summer}} | 1:40.727 |
5. | {{flagIOCathlete|Simon Faeh|SUI|2004 Summer}} | 1:41.039 |
6. | {{flagIOCathlete|Carlos Pérez|ESP|2004 Summer}} | 1:41.335 |
7. | {{flagIOCathlete|Emanuel Silva|POR|2004 Summer}} | 1:43.051 |
8. | {{flagIOCathlete|Michael Kolganov|ISR|2004 Summer}} | 1:43.411 |
9. | {{flagIOCathlete|Tony Lespoir|SEY|2004 Summer}} | 2:04.975 |
Semifinal 3 |
1. | {{flagIOCathlete|Adam van Koeverden|CAN|2004 Summer}} | 1:38.907 | QF |
2. | {{flagIOCathlete|Nathan Baggaley|AUS|2004 Summer}} | 1:39.031 | QF |
3. | {{flagIOCathlete|Andrea Facchin|ITA|2004 Summer}} | 1:40.387 | QF |
4. | {{flagIOCathlete|Alan van Coller|RSA|2004 Summer}} | 1:41.131 |
5. | {{flagIOCathlete|Anders Gustafsson|SWE|2004 Summer}} | 1:41.291 |
6. | {{flagIOCathlete|Petar Merkov|BUL|2004 Summer}} | 1:42.207 |
7. | {{flagIOCathlete|Martin Chorváth|SVK|2004 Summer}} | 1:43.095 |
8. | {{flagIOCathlete|Liu Haitao|CHN|2004 Summer}} | 1:46.179 |
9. | {{flagIOCathlete|Apostolos Papandreou|GRE|2004 Summer}} | 1:46.627 |
The final was raced on August 28.
style="width:30px; background:gold;" | align=left|{{flagIOCathlete|Adam van Koeverden|CAN|2004 Summer}} | 1:37.919 |
style="background:silver;" | align=left|{{flagIOCathlete|Nathan Baggaley|AUS|2004 Summer}} | 1:38.467 |
style="background:#c96;" | align=left|{{flagIOCathlete|Ian Wynne|GBR|2004 Summer}} | 1:38.547 |
4. | {{flagIOCathlete|Eirik Verås Larsen|NOR|2004 Summer}} | 1:38.667 |
5. | {{flagIOCathlete|Ákos Vereckei|HUN|2004 Summer}} | 1:39.315 |
6. | {{flagIOCathlete|Lutz Altepost|GER|2004 Summer}} | 1:39.647 |
7. | {{flagIOCathlete|Bâbak Amir-Tahmasseb|FRA|2004 Summer}} | 1:40.187 |
8. | {{flagIOCathlete|Javier Correa|ARG|2004 Summer}} | 1:40.639 |
9. | {{flagIOCathlete|Andrea Facchin|ITA|2004 Summer}} | 1:41.575 |