One-two finish for Britain in Olympic men's canoe slalom double
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E-mail Xinhua, August 2, 2012
LEE VALLEY, Aug. 2 (Xinhua) -- Britain had a one-two finish in the Olympic men's canoe slalom double final in Lee Valley White Water Center on Thursday.
World No. 6 British duo Tim Baillie and Etienne Stott finished the race in 106.41 seconds, followed by their compatriots David Florence and Richard Hounslow in 106.77 seconds.
This is the hosts' first Olympic gold in canoe slalom events.
Stott said after winning the gold: "It's weird, it doesn't seem real. It's a complete dream. We did feel the pressure being in the final, but we just focussed on our process and got on with it."
Florence and Hounslow were overjoyed after taking a silver.
"To win an Olympic medal is fantastic. We were really pleased with our run," said Florence.
"Sitting on the start line, we knew Britain had a gold medal already. We are a team. We attacked it hard and the difference between first and second is the sprint to the finish where we lost some time," Hounslow added.
The bronze medal went to Slovakia's three-time Olympic champions Pavol and Peter Hochschorner in 108.28 seconds.
Pavol expressed his anger over the result. "I'm feeling very angry. Number 16 gate, where we touched, had very strong wind, which made us touch."
"We had a few really big mistakes, it was not a run for a gold medal," Pavol added.
France's Gauthier and Matthieu Peche cried after a fourth-place finish in 109.17 seconds.
China's Hu Minghai and Shu Junrong settled for a sixth place in 112.85 seconds but they already made history for China by making to the final.
"We are making progress, but not much enough to catch up with others,"said Hu. "Moreover, we did a poor job in adjusting to the conditions and atmosphere here. By the way, even if we performed to our maximum level, we still can not win a medal." Enditem
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