The women's K-1 500 metres was a competition in canoeing at the 1956 Summer Olympics.
The K-1 event is raced by single-person canoe sprint kayaks.
The top four finishers in each heat moved directly to the final.
Dementyeva false-started once, then won the event by two meters after spurting to the lead after the start.
Fifth-place finisher Cochrane never trained with or competed against women prior to the Olympics.