Russian pair Yury Postrigay and Alexander Dyachenko blitzed the field for gold in the canoe sprint men’s kayak double event on Saturday.
Postrigay and Dyachenko raced away to win the sprint by a huge three-quarter-length margin in 33.507s.
Belarus claimed silver through Raman Piatrushenka and Vadzim Makhneu in 34.266 while the British pair of Liam Heath and Jon Schofield took bronze in 34.421.
The world champion French team finished fourth.
“It’s a really tough competition. We’ve trained hard. It’s the Olympics, and that’s how it goes,” said Postrigay.
Belarus’ Piatrushenka lamented the blustery conditions. “The wind was head on. I went for it and I got a silver.”
Great Britain’s Ed McKeever seized the gold in the men’s single kayak 200m sprint with a dominant victory.
McKeever (28) led from the start as he powered over the K1 line, beating Spain’s Saul Craviotto and Mark de Jonge of Canada.
“Just relief,” McKeever said. “It sounds strange. Not elation, more relief and so happy I could do it in front of the home crowd, it’s brilliant.”
McKeever said the race, run in a head wind that made it seem longer, was “really painful.”
“I was really just focused on the first two or three strokes and I wanted to nail those and get out cleanly,” he said.
New Zealand’s Lisa Carrington won the women’s single kayak 200m while Ukraine’s Inna Osypenko-Radomska took silver and Hungary’s Natasa Douchev-Janics the bronze.
In the men’s single canoe 200m, Yuri Cheban of Ukraine took the gold ahead of Lithuania’s Jevgenij Shulkin. Russia’s Ivan Shtyl clinched the bronze. — Agencies
