After finishing tenth place in the Beijing Olympics, Daniele Molmenti took the gold yesterday in the kayak single slalom at the Lee Valley White Water Centre—a gift to himself on his 28th birthday.
Molmenti's winning time of 93.43 seconds was a full 1.35 seconds ahead of silver medalist, Vavrinec Hradilek of the Czech Republic, who won the first medal for his country in this year's Olympics. Racing after Hradilek, Molmenti was able to improve upon a few of the silver medalist's mistakes to paddle quickly through the course without missing or hitting any gates.
At the previous Olympic games, Molmenti's performance was mired by devastating injuries suffered when he fell seven metres off of his motorcycle into a ravine in 2007, breaking a vertebrae in his back. He was back in the water in only 100 days and qualified for the 2008 Olympics, but did not regain his momentum until 2009.
This year he approached the event in peak shape, as the reigning world champion and World Cup holder hot off of a 2012 European championship win—his third since the last Olympics. Winning the Olympic gold has made him the first man to win the full set of golds in the single kayak slalom.
Molmenti's win is Italy's third gold in the 2012 games, which brings the total medal count to 9 in the first 5 days of competition.
