BEIJING, Aug 15: Slovak twins Peter and Pavol Hochschorner won an unprecedented third straight gold in the men’s Olympic white water canoe pairs on Friday and they are already setting course for London in 2012.

“Of course we’re coming back,” Pavol said. “This keeps me motivated,” the 28-year-old added as he lifted his gold medal and waved it to Chinese spectators seeking autographs and pictures.

“We will keep competing for as long as we can,” Peter said.

Paddling under a rare blue Beijing sky, the twins won comfortably ahead of the Czech Republic’s Jaroslav Volf and Ondrej Stepanek and Russia’s Mikhail Kuznetsov and Dmitry Larionov, despite committing several gate errors which cost them time penalties.

The twins have dominated white water canoeing for years and won medals at nearly every major championship over the past decade which made them strong favourites in Beijing.

Their plans to compete at the London Olympics appeared to be one of few issues the twins, who look anything but identical, agreed on.

“Mentally we’re poor, but physically we’re very strong,” said Pavol, the shorter, thinner member of the pair.

But Peter, who is 10cm taller and who sits in the back to capitalise on his stronger shoulders and heavier weight did not agree.

Slovakia collected three of the four possible white water golds in Beijing as Elena Kaliska took the kayak gold and Michal Martikan the singles canoe gold.—Reuters