CANOE/KAYAK ROUNDUP

updated 12:52 p.m. ET Aug. 27, 2004

SCHINIAS, 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.

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“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 on Saturday, 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. The remaining finals are set for Saturday.

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.

In other finals:

—Two-time world champion Eirik Veraas Larsen of Norway pushed ahead of his rivals to take gold in the 1,000-meter K-1 — his first Olympic medal.

—The Swedish kayak pair of Markus Oscarsson and Henrik Nilsson won their 1,000-meter event, improving on their silver in Sydney. Italians Antonio Rossi and Beniamino Bonomi, the defending Olympic champions, finished second, less than 0.05 seconds ahead of the Norwegian squad, whose third-place finish gave Larsen his second medal of the day.

—The Germans took their second gold when the canoe pair of Christian Gille and Tomasz Wylenzek won their 1,000-meter final. They were 1.3 seconds behind Russia at 500 meters but finished in a fury. Gille raced with a black arm band in honor of his late former racing partner Thomas Zereska, who died of leukemia this year.

—The Hungarians, backed by a flag-waving following of several hundred, won the men’s K-4 1,000 to the loudest cheers of the day. The Germans were second, with Slovakia taking bronze.

Canoe/Kayak - Women's K-4, 500M (medals: Aug. 27th) Medal Athlete Country Result Gold Germany 1:34.340 Silver Hungary 1:34.536 Bronze Ukraine 1:36.192 NBCO: Schedules, preliminary result and complete final results

Canoe/Kayak - Men's K-4, 1000M (medals: Aug. 27th) Medal Athlete Country Result Gold Hungary 2:56.919 Silver Germany 2:58.659 Bronze Slovakia 2:59.314 NBCO: Schedules, preliminary result and complete final results

Canoe/Kayak - Men's K-2, 1000M (medals: Aug. 27th) Medal Athlete Country Result Gold Markus Oscarsson, Henrik Nilsson Sweden 3:18.420 Silver Antonio Rossi, Beniamino Bonomi Italy 3:19.484 Bronze Eirik Veraas Larsen, Nils Olav Fjeldheim Norway 3:19.528 NBCO: Schedules, preliminary result and complete final results

Canoe/Kayak - Men's C-2, 1000M (medals: Aug. 27th) Medal Athlete Country Result Gold Christian Gille, Tomasz Wylenzek Germany 3:41.802 Silver Alexander Kostoglod, Alexander Kovalev Russia 3:42.990 Bronze Gyorgy Kozmann, Gyorgy Kolonics Hungary 3:43.106 NBCO: Schedules, preliminary result and complete final results

Canoe/Kayak - Men's K-1, 1000M (medals: Aug. 27th) Medal Athlete Country Result Gold Eirik Veraas Larsen Norway 3:25.897 Silver Ben Fouhy New Zealand 3:27.413 Bronze Adam van Koeverden Canada 3:28.218 NBCO: Schedules, preliminary result and complete final results

Canoe/Kayak - Men's C-1, 1000M (medals: Aug. 27th) Medal Athlete Country Result Gold David Cal Spain 3:46.201 Silver Andreas Dittmer Germany 3:46.721 Bronze Attila Vajda Hungary 3:49.025 NBCO: Schedules, preliminary result and complete final results