Canoeing at the 1936 Berlin Summer Games:

Reigning European champions were Germany's Ewald Tilker and Fritz Bondroit. They had not originally qualified for the race, but the German champions, Willi Horn and Erich Hanisch, had competed in the 10 km event, allowing Tilker and Bondroit to race. In the preliminary round, the Germans were pipped at the finish by Sweden (Sixten Jansson and Gunnar Lundqvist), while the Austrians (Adi Kainz and Alfons Dorfner), had the fastest time in the other heat.

The final proved to be even closer, as at 600 m, the Germans, Austrians, Swedes and Dutch were virtually level. As the Austrians sprinted away in the final stretch, the Swedish and German boats scrambled to keep up. In the mêlée, the Swedes bumped into the German boat, causing them to miss a few strokes. Sweden crossed the line second behind Austria, but was disqualified for interference, which meant the Germans (originally third) and the Dutch (orginally fourth) moved up in the rankings.