Reigning Olympic champions Slovakian twins Pavol and Peter Hochschorner successfully defended their gold medal in the C2 final of canoe slalom while two Frenchmen bagged gold and bronze medals in the men's K1 event in Athens.

The twin brothers, though penalized for 2 seconds, still finished in 207.16 seconds, 3.82 seconds ahead of German Marcus Becker and Stefan Henze, last year's world champions.

The third place went to Czech Jaroslav Volf and Ondrej Stepanek, who finished in 212.86 seconds.

The brothers' confidence was manifested even before the Sydney Olympics as Peter said that "we will go to Athens as gold medalists."

"We are both lucky and good. The course is wonderful and the weather was perfect and these made things easier for us. We are happy that we give the second gold medal for Slovakia," Peter said.

Becker even didn't believe that he became the silver medalist as he said that "it's a great success in a very hard course."

Bronze medalist Volf attributed their fantastic performance to good luck as "we are very lucky. We dedicate the medal to our parents and to our country."

With a total score of 187.96 points, Frenchman Benoit Peschier became the winner in men's K1 of kayak slalom. Fabien Lefevre, also from France and reigning world champion, came out third in 190.99 seconds.

Britain's Campbell Walsh, second placer of this year's Athens World Cup, sandwiched within the two Frenchmen in 190.17.

Defending champion Thomas Schmidt of Germany, a surprise in the final, only finished fifth with a total score of 192.93.

Peschier could hardly realize that he won the gold medal and thought "it's amazing". His compatriot had a pity not to get the silver but he was satisfied with his performance and with his timing.

The silver medalist Campbell said that "I was prepared for the gold medal. I made some mistakes and I lost it. The silver medal is also a big success."

All races for canoe/kayak slalom ended, with France and Slovakia each snatching two golds.

Results of men's canoe slalom pair event

1. Pavol Hochschorner/Peter Hochschorner, Slovakia, 207.16 seconds

2. Marcus Backer/Stefan Henze, Germany, 210.98

3. Jaroslav Volf/Ondrej Stepanek, Czech Republic, 212.86

4. Christian Bahmann/Michael Senft, Germany, 213.45

5. Philippe Quemerais/Yann le Pennec, France, 216.79

6. Andrea Benetti/Erik Masoero, Italy, 220.06

Source: Xinhua