Competition consists of three rounds: the heats, the semifinals, and the final.
The top three finishers in each of the two semifinals join the heats winners in the final.
Qualification Rules: 1..3->Final, Rest Out Poland finished fourth originally, but was disqualified when Seroczyński tested positive for doping.
After a year of deliberation and court cases, it was determined on 11 December 2009 that Poland was disqualified.
He is the first canoer to fail a doping test in the Summer Olympics.