Ken Wallace was once again the standout performer for the Australian canoe sprint team on day three of the ICF World Championships in Duisburg, Germany.
The 30-year-old headed into Friday's K1 500 event full of confidence having qualified the previous day for Saturday's K1 1000 final.
After cruising through his heat, Wallace faced a tough semi-final against Danish star Rene Holten Poulsen and Slovakian Peter Gelle.
But the Queenslander increased his stroke rate over the closing 200 metres to win in 1:39.44, 0.26 seconds ahead of Holten Poulsen with Gelle half a second further back in third.
Australia's two K4 crews also advanced to their respective finals to be contested on Sunday.
London Olympic K4 1000 gold medallist Tate Smith, David Smith, Murray Stewart and Jacob Clear finished second behind Belarus in semi-final one.
In just their second race together the newly formed K4 500 crew of Hannah Davis, Alana Nicholls, Bernadette Wallace and Naomi Flood finished second in their heat to set up a finals berth.
The Australian quartet finished 0.78 seconds behind Russia who won in 1:35.18.
Nicholls is now through to her second final after securing a berth in the women's K1 500.
