Yuri Cheban of Ukraine wins gold in 200-meter C-1 at Olympic canoe sprint regatta

August 11, 2012 |The Associated Press

Ukraine's Iurii Cheban paddles in a men's canoe single 200m semifinal in Eton Dorney, near Windsor, England, at the 2012 Summer Olympics, Friday, Aug. 10, 2012. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

WINDSOR, England - Yuri Cheban of Ukraine won gold in the inaugural men's 200-meter C-1 at the Olympic canoe sprint regatta on Saturday, adding to the world title he captured in 2009.

Cheban made a great start and held firm to cross the line in 42.291 seconds at Dorney Lake, just ahead of Jevgenij Shuklin of Lithuania. Ivan Shtyl of Russia took the bronze.

Cheban became the first person to win the C-1 200 title at a summer games, with the distance new to the Olympic program replacing the 500.

It's the second Olympic medal for the 26-year-old Ukrainian, who won bronze in the discontinued 500-meter C-1 at the Beijing Games in 2008.

The final was held without reigning world and European champion Valentin Demyanenko of Azerbaijan, who didn't make it out of his heat.

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