# Canoeing at the 1988 Summer Olympics – Men's C-1 1000 metres

The men's C-1 1000 metres event was an open-style, individual canoeing event conducted as part of the Canoeing at the 1988 Summer Olympics program.

## Medallists

| Gold | Silver | Bronze |
| Ivans Klementyev (URS) | Jörg Schmidt (GDR) | Nikolay Bukhalov (BUL) |

## Results
### Heats

Fifteen competitors were entered. Held on September 27, the top three finishers in each heat moved on to the semifinals with the others relegated to the repechages.

#### Heat 1

| Rank | Canoer | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1. | Jörg Schmidt | East Germany | 4:06.18 | QS |
| 2. | Eric Jamieson | Great Britain | 4:06.88 | QS |
| 3. | Nikolay Bukhalov | Bulgaria | 4:09.57 | QS |
| 4. | Peter Páleš | Czechoslovakia | 4:11.88 | QR |
| 5. | Jan Pinczura | Poland | 4:14.10 | QR |
| 6. | Bruce Merritt | United States | 4:17.73 | QR |
| 7. | Timo Grönlund | Finland | 4:24.69 | QR |

#### Heat 2

| Rank | Canoer | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1. | Ivans Klementyev | Soviet Union | 4:05.02 | QS |
| 2. | Larry Cain | Canada | 4:09.50 | QS |
| 3. | Aurel Macarencu | Romania | 4:09.71 | QS |
| 4. | Ivan Šabjan | Yugoslavia | 4:11.54 | QR |
| 5. | Imre Pulai | Hungary | 4:12.18 | QR |
| 6. | Francisco López | Spain | 4:16.02 | QR |
| 7. | Hiroyuki Izumi | Japan | 4:40.34 | QR |
| 8. | Jang Yeong-Cheol | South Korea | 4:47.95 | QR |

### Repechages

Held on September 27, the top three finishers in each repechage moved on to the semifinals.

#### Repechage 1

| Rank | Canoer | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1. | Peter Páleš | Czechoslovakia | 4:17.83 | QS |
| 2. | Imre Pulai | Hungary | 4:20.50 | QS |
| 3. | Bruce Merritt | United States | 4:41.75 | QS |
| 4. | Hiroyuki Izumi | Japan | 5:00.98 | |

#### Repechage 2

| Rank | Canoer | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1. | Ivan Šabjan | Yugoslavia | 4:20.82 | QS |
| 2. | Francisco López | Spain | 4:22.34 | QS |
| 3. | Jan Pinczura | Poland | 4:24.10 | QS |
| 4. | Timo Grönlund | Finland | 4:26.80 | |
| 5. | Jang Yeong-Cheol | South Korea | 4:43.95 | |

### Semifinals

Taking place on September 29, the top three finishers in each semifinal advanced to the final.

#### Semifinal 1

| Rank | Canoer | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1. | Aurel Macarencu | Romania | 4:07.69 | QF |
| 2. | Jörg Schmidt | East Germany | 4:08.17 | QF |
| 3. | Ivan Šabjan | Yugoslavia | 4:08.75 | QF |
| 4. | Bruce Merritt | United States | 4:16.51 | |

#### Semifinal 2

| Rank | Canoer | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1. | Ivans Klementyev | Soviet Union | 4:05.06 | QF |
| 2. | Nikolay Bukhalov | Bulgaria | 4:07.23 | QF |
| 3. | Imre Pulai | Hungary | 4:10.79 | QF |
| 4. | Francisco López | Spain | 4:16.90 | |

#### Semifinal 3

| Rank | Canoer | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1. | Larry Cain | Canada | 4:07.47 | QF |
| 2. | Peter Páleš | Czechoslovakia | 4:08.84 | QF |
| 3. | Eric Jamieson | Great Britain | 4:13.44 | QF |
| - | Jan Pinczura | Poland | DISQ | |
Pinczura's disqualification was not disclosed in the official report.

### Final

The final took place on October 1.
| Rank | Canoer | Country | Time |
| | Ivans Klementyev | Soviet Union | 4:12.78 |
| | Jörg Schmidt | East Germany | 4:15.83 |
| | Nikolay Bukhalov | Bulgaria | 4:18.94 |
| 4. | Larry Cain | Canada | 4:20.70 |
| 5. | Aurel Macarencu | Romania | 4:21.72 |
| 6. | Imre Pulai | Hungary | 4:21.86 |
| 7. | Peter Páleš | Czechoslovakia | 4:22.14 |
| 8. | Ivan Šabjan | Yugoslavia | 4:24.67 |
| 9. | Eric Jamieson | Great Britain | 4:39.60 |