First round heats were held as follows:
Heat 1: 4th v 5th fastest
Heat 2: 3rd v 6th fastest
Heat 3: 2nd v 7th fastest
Heat 4: 1st v 8th fastest
The first round was started at 20:04.[4] The heat winners were ranked on time, from which the top two advanced to the gold medal race and the other two proceeded to the bronze medal race.