Josef Dostal, a canoeist from the Cech Republic, won the 1000m single canoe Olympic final in Vaires-surMarne. He finally got the reward he deserved for giving up two of his greatest loves: sweets and fishing.

The 31-year old knew he had to make changes if he wanted to improve on his three bronze and one silver medals accumulated in London, Rio, and Tokyo. His love for sweets and fishing was the most affected.

He said, "We added more sessions and skipped sweet food which I loved. I was eating more, and I lost a great deal of weight. The difference between this and last year is about four or five kilograms. That's a big difference." After beating the Hungarian duo of Adam Varga & Balint Kopasz, he won gold.

He couldn't bring himself to give up fishing completely, even though sugar was gone.

He grinned. "It's no that I didn't fish. I just fished for six to seven hours per day instead of the usual 12 hours. So, right now, I'm looking forward to doing nothing in the river and trying to catch a lone fish while knowing I am an Olympic champion."

The Czech canoeist said that he has no intention to retire after achieving Olympic gold. He is married to a mental-therapist and his boat was painted red and black to help improve his performance.

"I'm looking forward to a World Championship where I will be competing with my fiancée in the K2 Mixed (race). Now it's the time to use this cliché, but it's now time to enjoy. "This was hard work," said he. (Reporting and Editing by Christian Radnedge, Philip O'Connor)

(source: Reuters)