Canoeing-Chinese crew grab gold in women's canoe double at Paris Games

PARIS :The Chinese pair of Xu Shixiao and Sun Mengya powered to victory in the women's canoe double 500m final at the Paris Games on Friday, setting a new Olympic record of 1:52.81 and breaking the mark of 1:53.73 that they set earlier in the day. 

Ukraine's Liudmyla Luzan and Anastasiia Rybachok came in second to take silver, with Canada's Sloan Mackenzie and Katie Vincent finishing third. 

With a tailwind providing some of the choppiest waters seen at the Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium, Xu and Sun got off to an excellent start but the Canadians kept the pressure on them before fading over the final stretch. 

The finals of the 500m kayak double for women and men and the men's single canoe 1000m race also take place on Friday. 

Earlier in the morning, Hungary's Balint Kopasz and Adam Varga sensationally failed to make the men's kayak double (K2) 500m final, coming fifth in their semi-final to miss the decider. 

The Hungarians were sitting pretty for much of the race but a late sprint by the American pairing of Jonas Ecker and Aaron Small saw them snatch the fourth and last qualification spot for the final by 0.15 seconds.