The men's K-4 1000 metres event was a fours kayaking event conducted as part of the Canoeing at the 1972 Summer Olympics program.
| align=center bgcolor=gold | Gold | align=center bgcolor=silver | Silver | align=center bgcolor=cc9966 | Bronze |
Yuri Filatov Yuri Stetsenko Vladimir Morozov Valeri Didenko | Aurel Vernescu Mihai Zafiu Roman Vartolomeu Atanase Sciotnic | Egil Søby Steinar Amundsen Tore Berger Jan Johansen |
The 20 crews first raced in three heats on September 5. The top three finishers from each of the heats advanced directly to the semifinals while the remaining 11 teams were relegated to the repechage heats.
| Heat 1 | |||||
| width=30 | 1. | width=80 | 3:16.15 | QS | |
| 2. | 3:18.42 | QS | |||
| 3. | 3:19.69 | QS | |||
| 4. | 3:19.77 | QR | |||
| 5. | 3:26.65 | QR | |||
| 6. | 3:29.65 | QR | |||
| 7. | 3:32.94 | QR | |||
| Heat 2 | |||||
| 1. | 3:18.35 | QS | |||
| 2. | 3:18.65 | QS | |||
| 3. | 3:22.98 | QS | |||
| 4. | 3:23.31 | QR | |||
| 5. | 3:24.63 | QR | |||
| 6. | 3:29.75 | QR | |||
| 7. | 3:34.38 | QR | |||
| Heat 3 | |||||
| 1. | 3:19.12 | QS | |||
| 2. | 3:24.59 | QS | |||
| 3. | 3:26.90 | QS | |||
| 4. | 3:27.62 | QR | |||
| 5. | 3:27.77 | QR | |||
| 6. | 3:34.19 | QR |
Taking place on September 7, The top three competitors in each of the two repechages advanced to the semifinals.
| Repechage 1 | |||||
| width=30 | 1. | width=80 | 3:14.35 | QS | |
| 2. | 3:15.68 | QS | |||
| 3. | 3:16.24 | QS | |||
| 4. | 3:21.07 | ||||
| 5. | 3:21.97 | ||||
| 6. | 3:31.65 | ||||
| Repechage 2 | |||||
| 1. | 3:17.39 | QS | |||
| 2. | 3:18.63 | QS | |||
| 3. | 3:19.77 | QS | |||
| 4. | 3:22.89 | ||||
| 5. | 3:26.80 |
The top three finishers in each of the three semifinals (raced on September 8) advanced to the final.
| Semifinal 1 | |||||
| width=30 | 1. | width=80 | 3:09.98 | QF | |
| 2. | 3:11.15 | QF | |||
| 3. | 3:11.24 | QF | |||
| 4. | 3:11.65 | ||||
| 5. | 3:20.53 | ||||
| Semifinal 2 | |||||
| 1. | 3:09.68 | QF | |||
| 2. | 3:10.45 | QF | |||
| 3. | 3:11.57 | QF | |||
| 4. | 3:12.46 | ||||
| 5. | 3:13.76 | ||||
| Semifinal 3 | |||||
| 1. | 3:08.72 | QF | |||
| 2. | 3:09.71 | QF | |||
| 3. | 3:09.89 | QF | |||
| 4. | 3:10.70 | ||||
| 5. | 3:11.21 |
The Soviet Union's position at 500 meters in the second semifinal is missing in the official report. The third semifinal was so fast that Belgium and Yugoslavia's time would have gotten them into the finals if either nation had competed in the other two semifinals.
The final was held on September 9.
| width=30 bgcolor=gold | width=60 | 3:14.02 | ||
| bgcolor=silver | 3:15.07 | |||
| 3:15.27 | ||||
| 4. | 3:15.60 | |||
| 5. | 3:16.63 | |||
| 6. | 3:16.88 | |||
| 7. | 3:16.92 | |||
| 8. | 3:17.39 | |||
| 9. | 3:20.22 |