The men's C-1 1000 metres event was an open-style, individual canoeing event conducted as part of the Canoeing at the 1972 Summer Olympics program.
Thirteen competitors were entered. Held on September 5, the top three in each heat move on to final with the others were relegated to the semifinal. Ivan Patzaichin broke his paddle and placed last in his heat. Yet he managed to finish the race, paddling with a peace of wood that he removed from the floor of his canoe, and was included to the repechage.
| Rank | Canoer | Country | Time | Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | align=left athlete | Tamás Wichmann | align=left athlete | width=80 | 4:29.01 | QF | |
| 2. | align=left athlete | Boris Lyubenov | align=left athlete | 4:32.03 | QF | ||
| 3. | align=left athlete | Jerzy Opara | align=left athlete | 4:32.39 | QF | ||
| 4. | align=left athlete | Roberto Altamirano | align=left athlete | 4:34.52 | QS | ||
| 5. | align=left athlete | András Törő | align=left athlete | 4:39.92 | QS | ||
| 6. | align=left athlete | Jiří Čtvrtečka | align=left athlete | 4:54.56 | QS | ||
| 7. | align=left athlete | John Wood | align=left athlete | 4:56.70 | QS |
| Rank | Canoer | Country | Time | Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | align=left athlete | Detlef Lewe | align=left athlete | 4:31.79 | QF | ||
| 2. | align=left athlete | Vasiliy Yurchenko | align=left athlete | 4:33.34 | QF | ||
| 3. | align=left athlete | Dirk Weise | align=left athlete | 4:41.04 | QF | ||
| 4. | align=left athlete | Jean-François Millot | align=left athlete | 4:52.30 | QS | ||
| 5. | align=left athlete | Tetsumasa Yamaguchi | align=left athlete | 4:53.66 | QS | ||
| 6. | align=left athlete | Ivan Patzaichin | align=left athlete | 6:34.65 | QS |
Only the seven canoeists who did not advance from the first round competed in the semifinal. Taking place on September 8, the top three finishers advanced to the final.
| Rank | Canoer | Country | Time | Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | align=left athlete | Ivan Patzaichin | align=left athlete | width=80 | 4:11.90 | QF | |
| 2. | align=left athlete | Jiří Čtvrtečka | align=left athlete | 4:14.99 | QF | ||
| 3. | align=left athlete | Roberto Altamirano | align=left athlete | 4:15.24 | QF | ||
| 4. | align=left athlete | Jean-François Millot | align=left athlete | 4:20.70 | |||
| 5. | align=left athlete | John Wood | align=left athlete | 4:24.40 | align=left athlete | ||
| 6. | align=left athlete | András Törő | align=left athlete | 4:25.23 | |||
| 7. | align=left athlete | Tetsumasa Yamaguchi | align=left athlete | 4:36.34 |
The final took place on September 9.
| Rank | Canoer | Country | Time | Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| align=left athlete | Ivan Patzaichin | align=left athlete | width=60 | 4:08.94 | |||
| align=left athlete | Tamás Wichmann | align=left athlete | 4:12.42 | ||||
| align=left athlete | Detlef Lewe | align=left athlete | 4:13.63 | ||||
| 4. | align=left athlete | Dirk Weise | align=left athlete | 4:14.38 | |||
| 5. | align=left athlete | Vasiliy Yurchenko | align=left athlete | 4:14.43 | |||
| 6. | align=left athlete | Boris Lyubenov | align=left athlete | 4:14.65 | |||
| 7. | align=left athlete | Jiří Čtvrtečka | align=left athlete | 4:14.98 | |||
| 8. | align=left athlete | Roberto Altamirano | align=left athlete | 4:20.39 | |||
| 9. | align=left athlete | Jerzy Opara | align=left athlete | 4:21.05 |