The women's K-4 500 metres event was a fours kayaking event conducted as part of the Canoeing at the 1996 Summer Olympics program.
| align=center bgcolor=gold | Gold | align=center bgcolor=silver | Silver | align=center bgcolor=cc9966 | Bronze |
Anett Schuck Birgit Fischer Manuela Mucke Ramona Portwich | Gabi Müller Ingrid Haralamow Sabine Eichenberger Daniela Baumer | Susanne Rosenqvist Anna Olsson Ingela Ericsson Agneta Andersson |
16 crews entered in two heats. The top two finishers from each of the heats advanced directly to the finals while the remaining teams were relegated to the semifinals.
| Heat 1 | |||||
| width=30 | 1. | width=80 | 1:40.045 | QF | |
| 2. | 1:40.197 | QF | |||
| 3. | 1:41.185 | QS | |||
| 4. | 1:41.685 | QS | |||
| 5. | 1:42.821 | QS | |||
| 6. | 1:43.381 | QS | |||
| 7. | 1:45.905 | QS | |||
| 8. | 1:49.505 | QS | |||
| Heat 2 | |||||
| 1. | 1:37.895 | QF | |||
| 2. | 1:39.363 | QF | |||
| 3. | 1:39.691 | QS | |||
| 4. | 1:39.863 | QS | |||
| 5. | 1:41.695 | QS | |||
| 6. | 1:43.311 | QS | |||
| 7. | 1:44.707 | QS | |||
| 8. | 1:45.215 | QS |
The top two finishers in each of the semifinals and the fastest third-place finisher advanced to the final.
| Semifinal 1 | |||||
| width=30 | 1. | width=80 | 1:38.712 | QF | |
| 2. | 1:39.764 | QF | |||
| 3. | 1:40.088 | ||||
| 4. | 1:40.092 | ||||
| 5. | 1:42.216 | ||||
| 6. | 1:45.996 | ||||
| Semifinal 2 | |||||
| width=30 | 1. | width=80 | 1:37.145 | QF | |
| 2. | 1:37.365 | QF | |||
| 3. | 1:37.905 | QF | |||
| 4. | 1:40.045 | ||||
| 5. | 1:40.893 | ||||
| 6. | 1:42.157 |
The final was held on August 3.
| width=30 bgcolor=gold | width=60 | 1:31.077 | ||
| bgcolor=silver | 1:32.701 | |||
| 1:32.917 | ||||
| 4. | 1:33.089 | |||
| 5. | 1:33.093 | |||
| 6. | 1:33.577 | |||
| 7. | 1:34.345 | |||
| 8. | 1:34.673 | |||
| 9. | 1:34.693 |
Fischer became the first woman in any sport to win Olympic gold medals 16 years apart. She won the women's K-1 500 m event at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow.