Cousins bring golden lustre back to Slovakia slalom

Ladislav Skantar and Peter Skantar gracefully negotiated the rapids under a blinding sun in Deodoro's Whitewater Arena in a time of 101.58, finishing less than half a second faster than silver medallists Richard Hounslow and David Florence of Britain.

Slovakian cousins Ladislav Skantar and Peter Skantar celebrate after winning the gold in the men's C-2 on Thursday.

Slovakian cousins Ladislav Skantar and Peter Skantar took gold in the men's C-2 on Thursday, capturing the top spot on the podium that had previously eluded their country in the 2016 Olympics.

The Skantars gracefully negotiated the rapids under a blinding sun in Deodoro's Whitewater Arena in a time of 101.58, finishing less than half a second faster than silver medallists Richard Hounslow and David Florence of Britain, who clocked 102.01 seconds.

Top-ranked Gauthier Klauss and Matthieu Peche of France took bronze in 103.24 seconds.

Slovakia has developed a long-standing reputation for dominance in canoe slalom and Matej Benus took silver this year in the men's C-1.

Maialen Chourraut wins Kayak K1 gold

Spain’s Maialen Chourraut took home gold in the women’s kayak single on Thursday afternoon with a time of 98.65. New Zealand’s Luuka Jones won silver with a time of 101.82, and Australia’s Jessica Fox rounded out the top three with 102.49.

Chourraut’s run was the fastest of the entire kayak single slalom competition, and free of penalties.