Sports SPORTS EDITOR: JON KUIPERIJ Phone 905-845-3824 (ext. 432) Fax 905-337-5571 email sports@oakvillebeaver.com WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 24, 2011 25 Burloak Canoe Club paddlers combined to account for two of Canadas three gold medals at last weekends world canoe and kayak championships in Hungary. Three-time Olympic medallist Adam van Koeverden domi- nated the mens K-1 (kayaking singles) 1,000-metre race, while Mallorie Nicholson teamed with Trois- Rivieries, Que. native Laurence Vincent- Lapointe to win the womens C-2 (canoe- ing doubles) 500m event. Van Koeverden finished Fridays 1,000m final with a time of 3:36.194, more than three seconds ahead of second-place fin- isher Anders Gustafson of Sweden. I wouldnt have guessed I could beat those guys by margin, said the 29-year- old van Koeverden. The wind came from the left and that kept me sheltered. It wasnt a huge advantage but Ive been in races before where I had no chance of win- ning because the conditions werent on my side. Despite all of van Koeverdens interna- tional accomplishments, Fridays victory marked the first time he had won a world championship in the 1,000m. He had been second in the 1,000m three previous times at worlds and won bronze in the event at the 2004 Olympics. The win means a lot to me. I had never won a K-1 1,000m race before at worlds or Olympics, van Koeverden said. All the hard work paid off. Theres nothing more beautiful than when you work really hard and see that kind of result at the end. Van Koeverdens victory guaranteed a spot for Canada in the event at the 2012 Olympic Games. Burloak paddlers golden at world championships SRSL champs SLIDING BY: Oakville A player Alexander Cenedese (in red) slides to tackle Brock Follows of the Burlington Bullets during Saturday's South Region Soccer League contest at Central Park. Oakville defeated Burlington 2-1 to improve to 14-2-2 on the season and clinch top spot in the SRSL stand- ings. Burlington was second with a 12-3-3 mark. MICHAEL IVANIN / OAKVILLE BEAVER Adam van Koeverden Mallorie Nicholson See Nicholson, page 27