CANOE-KAYAK Fischer wins eighth gold medal in 500

XSCHINIAS, Greece -- Crossing the finish line in victory, 42-year-old Birgit Fischer smiled, pumped her fist and raised her paddle in the air. Her much younger teammates just leaned back and gasped with exhaustion.
Fischer, who came out of retirement to bring German kayaking back from mediocrity, showed she's still the best in the world.
She won her eighth gold medal and became the first woman to win Olympic medals 24 years apart, leading her four-person kayak team to a comeback win in the 500-meter final over the defending world champion Hungarians.
"You never know if it's going to be the last medal you win, so in that sense, it has a higher meaning," Fischer said.
Asked if she thought the medal was indeed her last, she became coy.
"I have no idea," she said. "Who knows?"
This much is certain: Fischer's return has shaken up these games.
Last year, before Fischer came out of her three-year hiatus, the Germans could muster only a fifth-place finish in the K-4 world championships. And the Hungarians seemed stunned that Fischer could make such a difference in these games.
Her squad trailed Hungary by three-tenths of a second halfway through the race, but Fischer set a torrid pace at the front of the boat and the Germans won by two-tenths of a second over Hungary, with Ukraine taking bronze.
"We did the best we could, but the Germans were too fast," Hungary's Katalin Kovacs said. "I am not pleased."
Fischer won her first gold at 18 in Moscow, becoming the youngest woman ever to win an Olympic kayaking event. She now has 11 total medals and will be a strong contender for yet another today, when she races in the pairs kayak final.
No American boats made the canoe and kayak finals. On the opposite end of the spectrum are the Germans, who qualified for all 12 finals, winning two golds and two silvers out of the first six.
One German finished lower than expected, however.
Spain's David Cal surged ahead of the most dominant man in his sport to take gold -- his first Olympic medal -- in the 1,000-meter single canoe event.
Andreas Dittmer, the defending gold medalist and three-time defending world champion, led just out of the start, but Cal passed the 32-year-old and pulled out to nearly a one-second lead at the halfway mark.
"When I heard the Spanish people calling my name, I thought I have to finish first, even if I have to take power from where there is none left in me," Cal said. "Now I only want to rest."
Dittmer, who won silver, said he let Cal get too big of an early lead and realized going into the last 250 meters that the 21-year-old Spaniard was not about to fade.
"And I realized I'm not as good as I supposed I'd be," Dittmer said.
The race was expected to be a showdown between Dittmer and 1996 gold medalist Martin Doktor of the Czech Republic. But Doktor, who lost his heat race and was forced to race in the semifinal round, finished one spot out of the medals. Attila Vajda of Hungary ended up in third.
Associated Press
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