Italian Molmenti wins kayak singles gold

London, England – Former world champion Daniele Molmenti captured gold Wednesday in the men's kayak single final.

The Italian posted a winning time of 93.43 seconds, besting Czech Vavrinec Hradilek by 1.35 seconds and German Hannes Aigner by another .14 ticks. It marked his country's first gold medal in this event since the 1992 Barcelona Games.

Molmenti -- who turned 28 years old Wednesday -- finished 10th in this race at the 2008 Beijing Games, but has since won the 2010 World Championship as well as three European titles, including in 2011 and '12.

"I finished my job. I'm so excited I've lost my voice," said Molmenti. "I've won everything in my sport. I'm the first K1 man to do this and I'm pretty proud."

Aigner got the bronze behind Hradilek's silver after winning Sunday's heat with a time of 83.49. That mark rose by nearly 10 seconds on Wednesday as he failed to keep the gold in his home country. German Alexander Grimm won this event in Beijing.

Slovenia's Peter Kauzer, who has won multiple world cups in addition to World and European championships, failed to secure his first Olympic medal. He finished sixth.