Martikan's comeback C1 Gold:After 12 years

After winning the gold in 1996 but coming in second at the next two Olympics, Michal Martikan of Slovakia recaptured first place in the Men's Slalom Canoe Single competition on August 12, finishing first in both the semifinal and final races with a combined total time of 176.65 seconds.



Martikan got a two-second penalty in both of his races, but his finishing times of 86.92 seconds in the semifinal run and 85.73 in the final run were enough to clinch the gold, even after a total of four penalty seconds were added.