Doctor Tim Brabants of Britain will on Saturday attempt to complete an Olympic canoeing double, after an impressive start-to-finish victory in his first event, the solo 1,000m kayak, in the Shunyi Olympic park.

Brabants, in his “patriotic” red, white and blue boat, crossed the line in 3min 26.32secs, about a second ahead of Norway’s Eirik Veraas Larsen in the silver medal position, with the fast-finishing Ken Wallace of Australia close behind in third.