updated 12:55 p.m. ET Aug. 20, 2004

ATHENS, Greece - Winning on whitewater runs in the family for Frenchman Benoit Peschier, though an Olympic gold is something new.

Peschier paddled his one-man kayak aggressively but penalty free in his semifinal and final runs on the manmade Olympic course Friday, snatching the gold medal from Britain’s Campbell Walsh, who was leading before the last run.

“The idea was to give it all — without restraint — and work as hard as I could physically as well as technically and mentally,” said Peschier, whose father, Claude, was the single kayak slalom world champion in 1969.

Walsh took silver after seeing his 0.25-second lead turn into a more than two second deficit. Defending world champion Fabien Lefevre, also of France, took bronze after being hurt by a two-second penalty on each of his last two runs.

“I felt like I held back,” Walsh said. “I should have been going for gold more. I feel like I settled for the top three and let my self down a little in that respect.”

Lefevre might have won if not for the two time penalties. He ended up 3.03 seconds behind his triumphant countryman’s combined time of 187.96.

“The mistakes were stupid, but I was quite focused most of the way,” Lefevre said, not appearing terribly disappointed. “I’m resolute not to have any remorse. I’m still 22 and maybe there’s room for improvement.”

Peschier, 24, learned to paddle as a child from his father. The senior Peschier was still on the French national team when his sport made its Olympic debut at Munich in 1972, but he was designated as an alternate and didn’t compete. He was in Greece to watch Friday’s final.

Scott Parsons was the only American to make the 10-boat finals after a ninth-best time in the semifinals. He finished sixth.

“I paddled hard and never really found my groove,” he said. “I got a lot of experience and now I know what the Olympics feels like. Hopefully, four years from now, I’ll be at the top and favored coming in.”

Earlier, U.S. captain Brett Heyl, who had looked the best of the Americans in the preliminary with a fifth-fastest time, fell out of contention with a 15th place in his semifinal run.

In other whitewater action Friday, Joe Jacobi and Matt Taylor of the United States placed eighth in the pairs semifinals, with only the top six entries advancing to the finals.

Slovakian brothers Pavol Hochschorner and Peter Hochschorner won their second consecutive Olympic gold medal in the canoe pairs by more than 3 seconds. Germany's Marcus Becker and Stefan Henze captured the silver and Czechoslovakia's Jaroslav Volf and Ondrej Stepanek earned the bronze.

The Slovakians moved smoothly through the whitewater course, showing the form that helped them win the gold medal at the Sydney Olympics. They celebrated in unison as they crossed the finish line, simultaneously pumping their right fists in the air.

Their final time was 207.16, with Becker and Henze finishing in 3.82 seconds.

The Hochschorners were way ahead with five gates to go, prompting fans in the amphitheater-style grandstand to cheer loudly. The pair then made a rare mistake, touching the third-to-last gate for a 2-second penalty that cut into their lead.

Volf and Stepanek were less than 2 seconds behind the Germans.

Frenchmen Philippe Quemerais and Yann Le Pennec were second after the semifinals, but slipped to fifth after touching two gates for a combined 4 seconds in penalties.

In the semifinals, Jacobi and Taylor struggled to get up to speed and struck a gate for a 2-second penalty, leaving them about 4 seconds behind Germans Christian Bahmamnn and Michael Senft, the sixth and final team to advance to the final run.