China Sweep Both Canoe Slalom Golds as Japan and Kazakhstan Share Silver

China won both canoe slalom golds on offer at the Asian Games in Nagoya, topping the podium in the men's kayak single and the women's canoe single, with the host nation and Kazakhstan picking up the minor medals across the two finals.

In the men's kayak single, China's paddler navigated the whitewater course to win gold, finishing ahead of Japan, who claimed silver in front of a home crowd, with Kazakhstan taking bronze to complete the podium. The event marked one of the highlights of the slalom programme at these Games, held on a purpose-built course as part of Nagoya's water sports venues.

China backed that result up in the women's canoe single final, again topping the podium, with Thailand producing a strong run to claim silver and Kazakhstan picking up a second bronze of the day in slalom to add to their men's medal. The results continue China's strong showing across the paddling disciplines at these Games, having already featured prominently on the medal table in the flatwater canoe sprint programme earlier in the competition.

Canoe slalom has a smaller footprint at the Asian Games than at the Olympics, with only two events on the programme in Nagoya, but both finals produced closely fought racing on a technical course that tested athletes' handling through the gates. With both golds now decided, canoe slalom's competition at these Games has concluded, closing out one of the more technically demanding disciplines on the Aichi-Nagoya sporting calendar.