Jacob Schopf, a German who missed out on the gold medal in Tokyo by just a fraction of second, finally won the double 500m men's race on Friday with Max Lemke.

The two were recently paired up and proved to be a perfect match. Their strong strokes, and rock-solid pace, edged out the silver medalists Bence Nadas, and Sandor Totka, of Hungary. Jean van der Westhuyzen, and Tom Green, of Australia, took bronze.

Schopf said that a gold finish erased three years of wondering about what the kayak double 1000 might have looked like in 2021.

"I still remember the race in Tokyo. I was nervous at first, but after we got this perfect start, I began to feel that it was an ideal race."

Lemke, his crewmate, also believed that the race was decided at the Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium in the first few moments.

He said, beaming, "We had a perfect start and very good first 250 meters - we were so far ahead after the start that we just thought to bring it to the finish line. And we did it, so I'm super-happy."

The gold medal was within reach of both athletes, and neither one worried about getting tired.

Lemke stated that only the top athletes are able to perform to this level in the final.

"We did that today and I am super proud of the fact that we achieved this as a group." (Reporting and editing by Ken Ferris; Philip O'Connor)

(source: Reuters)