# 1978 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships

The 1978 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships were held in Belgrade, Yugoslavia for a record third time. The Yugoslavian (now Serbian) city had previously hosted the championships in 1971 and 1975.
The men's competition consisted of six Canadian (single paddle, open boat) and nine kayak events. Three events were held for the women, all in kayak.
This was the fourteenth championships in canoe sprint.

## Medal summary
### Men's
#### Canoe

| Event | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
| C-1 500 m | Liubomir Ljubenov (BUL) | Gyula Hajdu (HUN) | Sergey Liminovich (URS) |
| C-1 1000 m | Matija Ljubek (YUG) | Tamás Wichmann (HUN) | Ivan Patzaichin (ROU) |
| C-1 10000 m | Ivan Patzaichin (ROU) | Vasiliy Yurchenko (URS) | Matija Ljubek (YUG) |
| C-2 500 m | Hungary László Foltán István Vaskúti | Soviet Union Sergey Petrenko Petras Grigonis | Romania Gheorghe Simionov Toma Simionov |
| C-2 1000 m | Hungary Tamás Buday Oszkár Frey | Romania Gheorghe Simionov Toma Simionov | Soviet Union Sergey Postrechin Yuri Lobanov |
| C-2 10000 m | Hungary Tamás Buday László Vaskúti | Romania Gheorghe Simionov Toma Simionov | Soviet Union Viktor Vorobiyev Aleksandr Beleyi |

#### Kayak

| Event | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
| K-1 500 m | Vasile Dîba (ROU) | Vladimir Parfenovich (URS) | Peter Hempel (GDR) |
| K-1 1000 m | Rüdiger Helm (GDR) | Milan Janić (YUG) | Vitaliy Trukshin (URS) |
| K-1 10000 m | Milan Janić (YUG) | Nikolay Stepanenko (URS) | István Joós (HUN) |
| K-2 500 m | East Germany Bernd Olbricht Rüdiger Helm | Romania Nicușor Eșanu Ion Bîrlădeanu | Soviet Union Sergei Chukhray Vladimir Tainikov |
| K-2 1000 m | Soviet Union Sergei Chukhray Vladimir Tainikov | Norway Einar Rasmussen Olaf Søyland | Hungary Zoltán Bakó István Szabó |
| K-2 10000 m | Hungary Zoltán Bakó István Szabó | France Alain Lebas Jean-Paul Hanquier | Romania Nicușor Eșanu Grigore Constantin |
| K-4 500 m | East Germany Peter Bischof Bernd Duvigneau Roland Graupner Harald Marg | Spain Herminio Menéndez Martin Vázquez José Ramón López Luis Gregorio Ramos | Poland Ryszard Oborski Daniel Wełna Grzegorz Kołtan Grzegorz Śledziewski |
| K-4 1000 m | East Germany Bernd Olbricht Bernd Duvigneau Rüdiger Helm Harald Marg | Romania Nicușor Eșanu Ion Bîrlădeanu Mihai Zafiu Alexandru Giura | Spain Herminio Rodriguez José María Esteban José Ramón López Luis Gregorio Ramos |
| K-4 10000 m | Soviet Union Aleksandr Shaparenko Sergey Nikolskiy Vladimir Morozov Aleksandr Avdeyev | Poland Andrzej Klimaszewski Krzysztof Lepianka Zbigniew Torzecki Zdzisław Szubski | Romania Cuprian Macarencu Ciobann Marian Stefan Popa Nicolae Țicu |

### Women's
#### Kayak

| Event | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
| K-1 500 m | Roswitha Eberl (GDR) | Olga Makarova (URS) | Maria Cosma (ROU) |
| K-2 500 m | East Germany Marion Rösiger Martina Fischer | Soviet Union Natalya Kalashinkova Nina Doroh | Romania Agafia Orlov Natasia Nichitov |
| K-4 500 m | East Germany Marion Rösiger Roswitha Eberl Carsta Genäuß Martina Fischer | Bulgaria Vanja Gescheva Maria Mintscheva Natascha Janakieva Iliana Nikolova | Romania Agafia Orlov Natasia Nichitov Maria Nicolae Nastasia Buri |

## Medals table

| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| 1 | East Germany (GDR) | 7 | 0 | 1 | 8 |
| 2 | Hungary (HUN) | 4 | 2 | 2 | 8 |
| 3 | Soviet Union (URS) | 2 | 6 | 5 | 13 |
| 4 | Romania (ROU) | 2 | 4 | 7 | 13 |
| 5 | Yugoslavia (YUG) | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| 6 | Bulgaria (BUL) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 7 | Poland (POL) | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 7 | Spain (ESP) | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 9 | France (FRA) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 9 | Norway (NOR) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Totals (10 entries) | Totals (10 entries) | 18 | 18 | 18 | 54 |