Australia edge Germany in men's kayak double 1000m at Tokyo Olympics

Thomas Green/Jean van der Westhuyzen of Australia pose after the men's kayak double 1000m final of canoe sprint at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan, Aug. 5, 2021. (Xinhua/Fei Maohua)

TOKYO, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- Australia's Thomas Green/Jean Van der Westhuyzen defeated German's reigning world champions Max Hoff/Jacob Schopf to win the gold of men's kayak double 1000m at Tokyo Olympics on Thursday.

The Australian duo built up a fairly comfortable lead from the beginning. Though the Germans started to attack as they came up through 750m, the Australian duo managed to maintain their lead.

Green and Van der Westhuyzen finished the race in three minutes and 15.280 seconds, followed by Hoff/Schopf in 3:15.584 and Radek Slouf/Josef Dostal of the Czech Republic 0.826 seconds behind.

China's Bu Tingkai/Wang Congkang ranked eighth in 3:19.612.