Ian Pringle competed in the men’s K-2 1000 metres canoe sprint at the 1976 Montreal Olympic Games alongside Howard Watkins, producing a brilliant repechage performance that very nearly secured a semi-final place in what the team manager described as one of the most creditable performances by the Irish canoe squad at Montreal. After a non-descript opening heat, Pringle and Watkins paddled brilliantly in the repechage and were the unlucky crew in a blanket finish of three canoes contesting the second and third qualifying places. A similar performance in either of the other two repechage rounds would have comfortably secured a semi-final place. He went on to compete at the Moscow 1980 and Los Angeles 1984 Olympic Games.