Canadian Adam van Koeverden got the defence of his Olympic Kayak 500 metre title off to the perfect start on Lake Shunyi on Tuesday, beating his own world best time and pledging to go faster.
Van Koeverden, unbeaten during the 2008 World Cup season, won the first heat of the day by almost a second ahead of his friend, Norway's Athens 1,000 metre Olympic champion Eirik Veraas Larsen.
‘It was a heat and I can go faster,’ he told reporters, wearing an ice jacket to cool down from the sweltering conditions. ‘I am happy to hear that I have broken it (the best time) but I can definitely go faster than that.’
Britain's Tim Brabants, another contender for a medal, won the second heat by more than a second to join the qualifiers for Thursday's 500 metre semifinals.
Brabants, van Koeverden and Larsen all qualified in first place from the three 1,000 metre heats on Monday and are likely to challenge for the two sets of blue-riband medals.
‘The 500 is always going to be a tough one and a lot closer than the 1,000,’ Brabants told reporters after climbing out of his boat.
‘To come away from this with two medals and one of them gold would constitute a good Olympics for me. The GB team have done incredibly well ... and now it's my turn to try and add to that.’
The final of the 500 metres is on Saturday, with the 1,000 metres final the previous day.
Spain's David Cal, a favourite in the men's single canoe events, moved up through the field to win and qualify for the 500 metre final. Germany's Andreas Dittmer, a World Cup winner this year, will have to race in the semi-final on Thursday to make the final.
In the women's kayak, Hungary's Katalin Kovacs powered over the 500 metre course to win her heat and qualify for Saturday's final in comfortable style. She later took to the water in the double with Natasa Janic to win that heat too.
