MONTEMOR-O-VELHO, Portugal, May 17 AAP - Ken Wallace and Lachlan Tame powered home to win gold in the K2 1000 final on day two of the ICF canoe sprint World Cup in Portugal.
Murray Stewart claimed silver in the K1 1000, missing gold by just under two seconds on Saturday.
And in further good news, Australia's Olympic gold medal boat, the men's K4 1000, powered straight through to Sunday's final with a controlled third in their heat.
Two Australian K4 500 boats have also qualified directly for Sunday's finals.
Wallace and Tame announced themselves as genuine Olympic medal contenders last year, when they finished second at the Sprint Canoe World Championships.
The pair had only started paddling together months beforehand.
On Saturday veteran Wallace and young-gun Tame left it to the final 250 metres to make their mark, unleashing Wallace's trademark withering finish to snatch gold.
They edged out France's Arnaud Hybois and Etienne Hubert by 0.240 seconds, winning in 3:08.388.
"It was pretty tough but I have got Kenny showing me the ropes and to get it done with him is awesome. I think we are like brothers now, we are bonding every time," Tame said.
Wallace said he found the conditions tough.
"It was bumpy and it was nice to have a tail wind but it almost turned as if it was too bumpy and we kept running into the back of the waves," Wallace said.
"I definitely wouldn't say it was our best race but I think it was a very controlled race."
On debut, Riley Fitzsimmons teamed up with fellow U23 paddler Jordan Wood to finish an impressive fifth, 3.096 seconds behind Wallace and Tame.
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