BEIXIAOYING TOWN // Tim Brabants of Britain has won the gold medal in men's 1,000 metre kayak single competition, returning to the medal podium for the first time in eight years. Brabants took the lead at the halfway mark and surged ahead to win in three minutes, 26.323 seconds. He won bronze in the 1,000m at the Sydney Games, but finished fifth in Athens. Eirik Veraas Larsen of Norway took home the silver medal in 3:27.342. Larsen was the defending gold medallist. The Australian Ken Wallace won bronze in 3:27.485. Attila Vajda of Hungary won gold in the men's 1,000m canoe single, moving a step up on the podium after winning bronze four years ago. David Cal of Spain won silver in 3:52.751 and Thomas Hall of Canada took the bronze medal in 3:53.653. Andrei and Aliaksandr Bahdanovich of Belarus have won the gold medal in men's 1,000m canoe double, storming from behind to nip Germany in a thrilling finish. The Bahdanovich brothers were nearly one second behind with 250 metres to go, then furiously paddled their way to the front just before the finish. They won in three minutes, 36:365 seconds. The German pair of Christian Gille and Thomasz Wynlenzek settled for silver in 3:36.588 after leading for most of Friday's race. Gyorgy Kozmann and Tamas Kiss won bronze in 3:40.258. Kozmann and Kiss wore black armbands to honor Gyorgy Kolonics, a canoeing gold medallist at the 1996 and 2000 Olympics who died last month after collapsing in his canoe while training for the Beijing Games.
*AP