The Women's K-1 500 metres event was an individual kayaking event conducted as part of the Canoeing at the 2000 Summer Olympics program.
17 competitors entered in two heats. The top three finishers in each heat advanced to the finals. Fourth-place through seventh-place finishers and the fastest eighth-place finisher advanced to the semi-final.
| Heat 1 of 2 Date: Wednesday 27 September 2000 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Place | Overall | Athlete | Nation | Time | Qual. | |
| 1 | 4 | Caroline Brunet | 1:51.558 | QF | ||
| 2 | 6 | Anna Olsson | 1:52.785 | QF | ||
| 3 | 7 | 1:53.202 | QF | |||
| 4 | 9 | Sanda Toma | 1:54.738 | QS | ||
| 5 | 10 | Manuela Mucke | 1:54.870 | QS | ||
| 6 | 12 | Marcela Erbanová | 1:55.782 | QS | ||
| 7 | 13 | Ursula Profanter | 1:56.118 | QS | ||
| 8 | 15 | Anna Hemmings | 1:59.190 | QS | ||
| 9 | 17 | Inna Osypenko | 2:02.712 | |||
| Heat 2 of 2 Date: Wednesday 27 September 2000 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Place | Overall | Athlete | Nation | Time | Qual. | |
| 1 | 1 | Josefa Idem | 1:49.889 | QF | ||
| 2 | 2 | Rita Kőbán | 1:50.777 | QF | ||
| 3 | 3 | Ruth Nortje | 1:51.047 | QF | ||
| 4 | 5 | Katrin Borchert | 1:52.187 | QS | ||
| 5 | 8 | Nataša Janić | 1:54.395 | QS | ||
| 6 | 11 | 1:55.373 | QS | |||
| 7 | 14 | María Teresa Portela | 1:59.153 | QS | ||
| 8 | 16 | Sayuri Maruyama | 2:00.833 | QS | ||
Overall Results Heats
| Heats Overall Results | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Place | Athlete | Nation | Heat | Place | Time | Qual. | |
| 1 | Josefa Idem | 2 | 1 | 1:49.889 | QF | ||
| 2 | Rita Kőbán | 2 | 2 | 1:50.777 | QF | ||
| 3 | Ruth Nortje | 2 | 3 | 1:51.047 | QF | ||
| 4 | Caroline Brunet | 1 | 1 | 1:51.558 | QF | ||
| 5 | Katrin Borchert | 2 | 4 | 1:52.187 | QS | ||
| 6 | Anna Olsson | 2 | 2 | 1:52.785 | QF | ||
| 7 | Elżbieta Urbańczyk | 1 | 3 | 1:53.202 | QF | ||
| 8 | Nataša Janić | 2 | 5 | 1:54.395 | QS | ||
| 9 | Sanda Toma | 1 | 4 | 1:54.738 | QS | ||
| 10 | Manuela Mucke | 1 | 5 | 1:54.870 | QS | ||
| 11 | 2 | 6 | 1:55.373 | QS | |||
| 12 | Marcela Erbanová | 1 | 6 | 1:55.782 | QS | ||
| 13 | Ursula Profanter | 1 | 7 | 1:56.118 | QS | ||
| 14 | María Teresa Portela | 2 | 7 | 1:59.153 | QS | ||
| 15 | Anna Hemmings | 1 | 8 | 1:59.190 | QS | ||
| 16 | Sayuri Maruyama | 2 | 8 | 2:00.833 | |||
| 17 | Inna Osypenko | 1 | 9 | 2:02.712 | |||
The top three finishers in the semifinal advanced to the final.
| Heat 1 of 1 Date: Friday 29 September 2000 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Place | Athlete | Nation | Time | Qual. | |
| 1 | Katrin Borchert | 1:53.070 | QF | ||
| 2 | Nataša Janić | 1:55.482 | QF | ||
| 3 | Ursula Profanter | 1:55.626 | QF | ||
| 4 | Manuela Mucke | 1:55.794 | |||
| 5 | Sanda Toma | 1:56.310 | |||
| 6 | 1:57.000 | ||||
| 7 | María Teresa Portela | 1:58.932 | |||
| 8 | Marcela Erbanová | 1:59.472 | |||
| 9 | Anna Hemmings | 1:59.664 | |||
| Final Date: Sunday 1 October 2000 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Place | Athlete | Nation | Time | |
| Josefa Idem | 2:13.848 | |||
| Caroline Brunet | 2:14.646 | |||
| Katrin Borchert | 2:15.138 | |||
| 4 | Nataša Janić | 2:16.506 | ||
| 5 | 2:18.018 | |||
| 6 | Rita Kőbán | 2:19.668 | ||
| 7 | Ruth Nortje | 2:20.274 | ||
| 8 | Ursula Profanter | 2:20.598 | ||
| 9 | Anna Olsson | 2:24.774 | ||
Brunet had won the past three world championships in this event and was undefeated in this event in over two years. High winds delayed the final by five hours. The Canadian led at the halfway mark, but was passed by Idem, competing in her fifth Summer Olympics. Idem defeated Brunet by half a boat length.