London 2012 Slalom Canoe: Brendel wins gold

London: Sebastian Brendel of Germany won Olympic gold in the 1,000-meter C-1 on Wednesday, adding to the titles he captured at the last three European championships.

Brendel took charge of the second half of the race to win in 3 minutes 47.176 seconds. David Cal Figueroa of Spain was nearly a second behind to take the silver medal. Mark Oldershaw of Canada won the bronze.

The 24-year-old Brendel was the youngest man in the final. He made it to the London Games through final qualifying. He originally missed out after his paddle broke during the heats of last year's world championship in Szeged, Hungary.

Mathieu Goubel of France had been the quickest qualifier from the semifinals but he faded from contention in the final 250 meters.