Germany, Hungary and Belarus dominated the Olympic canoeing flatwater racings that were concluded on Saturday, with them being the top three winners of the six-day competition.

Germany won seven medals: two gold, two silver, and three bronze. Hungary took four medals: two gold, one silver, and one bronze.

In Athens, Germany also claimed seven medals: four gold and three silver. Hungary got six medals: three gold, one silver and two bronze.

Belarus, who took only one bronze in 2004 Games, turned out to be a surprise winner with two gold and one bronze in Beijing.

Host China won only one gold in the men's canoe double (C2) 500m on Saturday.

Germany won titles in the men's kayak double (K2) 1,000m and the women's kayak four (K4) 500m. Hungary took gold in the men's C1 1,000m and the women's K2 500m. Belarus snatched gold medals in men's K4 and C2 1,000m.

The remaining five gold medals in the men's K1 1,000m, K1, K2 and C1 500m, and women's K1 500m went to Britain, Australia, Spain, Russia and Ukraine respectively.

China's Meng Guanliang and Yang Wenjun have become the first crew to win the second straight gold medal in the C2 500m event. The pair led most the way to win in 1 minute and 41.025 seconds on Saturday, holding off fast-finishing Russian crew who took silver in 1:41.282.

The thrilling win was almost a repeat of the story in Athens when they won in a photo finish to give China its first Olympic gold medal in the sport.

The two fell into the water across the finish line after paddling to their exhaustion. The 25-year-old Yang hopped up and down and waved hands to the jubilant home fans after a life boat brought him on to the dock.

"It's not easy, especially after I got married. I had to lose weight, do a large amount of exercise and we put a lot of effort into our training," Meng, 31, said.

Hungary's Katalin Kovacs and Natasa Janic retained the Olympic title in the women's K2 500m on Saturday. The win helped Janic become the first Hungarian woman to win three Olympic gold medals in kayaking. She was the gold medalist in the K1 and K2 500m races in Athens.

"It ended very well," said the 26-year-old Hungarian. "Kovacs finished fourth in the K1 event and without this win we would be very sad."

The two, who took world titles in the K2 event in 2005 and 2006, were also the silver medalists in the K4 500m race on Friday.

Belarus brothers Andrei and Aliaksandr Bahdanovich moved past defending Olympic champions Germany in the last meters to win the men's C2 1,000m race in the most dramatic fashion on Friday. One of the Germany crew member fell into the water duo to exhaustion and when the boat bumped into the lane mark across the finish line.

"We felt good and were prepared for the race. We were not afraid of Germany going ahead at the beginning. We were planning to get ahead at the end," Andrei Bahdanovich said excitedly.

Source: Xinhua