Canoe/Kayak Flatwater Day 6 Preview: 1000 meters down, 500 to go

(BEIJING, August 22) -- All Canoe/Kayak Flatwater competition will come to an end with six gold medals on Saturday, August 23. Many competitors who paddled for 1000 meter finals in their respective events on Friday will now try for medals in the 500 meter course.

Men's Kayak Single (K1) 500 meter

3:30 p.m. (UTC/GMT +8)

This final gives the K1 1000m finalists who competed on Friday a chance to rendezvous once more. Beijing K1 1000m gold medalist Tim Brabants of Great Britain, silver medalist Eirik Veraas Larsen of Norway, bronze medalist Ken Wallace of Australia, seventh place Stjepan Janic and eighth place Adam van Koeverden of Canada will all gather again one day after finishing that final to compete for medals on a shorter K1 500m course.

Men's Canoe Single (C1) 500 meter

3:45 p.m. (UTC/GMT +8)

Again, some familiar faces will return in this race. Spain's David Cal took a silver medal in the previous day's C1 1000m, which means this final will be his last chance to win a gold medal. His best rival could be Russia's Maxim Opalev, who took a silver in Athens and a bronze in Sydney.

Women's Kayak Single (K1) 500 meter

4:20 p.m. (UTC/GMT +8)

All spotlights will focus on 43-year-old seven-time Olympian Josefa Idem who has taken four medals, including a gold in Sydney. Germany's Katrin Wagner-Augustin won a gold medal with her team in K4 500m already in Beijing. She will be hoping for her second gold medal in this tournament. Katalin Kovacs of Hungary took a silver in the K4 500m final on Friday, and will be looking to improve upon the color of her medal in this final.

Men's Kayak Double (K2) 500 meter

4:35 p.m. (UTC/GMT +8)

Defending champions Ronald Rauhe and Tim Wieskötter of Germany are favored to win this race. They have to face challenges from Danish pair Kim Wraae Knudsen and Rene Holten Poulsen, and Italian pair Andrea Facchin and Antonio Massimiliano Scaduto, who placed second and third in the K2 1000m final on Friday. Belarusian pair Raman Piatrushenka and Vadzim Makhneu who won a medal with their team in the K4 1000m also have a shot at the gold.

Men's Canoe Double (C2) 500 meter

5:05 p.m. (UTC/GMT +8)

China's Yang Wenjun and Meng Guanliang are likely to defend their title in this race. Their fiercest rival would be Christian Gille and Tomasz Wylenzek of Germany who finished second in the C2 1000m final on Friday. Belarus'Andrei Bahdanovich and Aliaksandr Bahdanovich just won C2 1000m final and may likely to carry their winning form to the C2 500m

Women's Kayak Double (K2) 500 meter

5:20 p.m. (UTC/GMT +8)

Defending champion Katalin Kovacs and Natasa Janic are favored to retain their title. However, they have to defeat Germany's Fanny Fischer and Nicole Reinhardt who surpassed them in the K4 500m final. Poland's Beata Mikolajczyk and Aneta Konieczna also have a good chance to win a medal.