Mahe Drysdale of New Zealand won the gold medal in the men's single sculls at the Olympic rowing regatta, completing the resume of one of the sport's leading names.
The five-time world champion held off longtime rival Ondrej Synek of the Czech Republic to win in a time of 6 minutes, 57.82 seconds. Synek was a half-length behind in second and Alan Campbell of Britain took the bronze.
Drysdale went into the Beijing Games in 2008 as a huge favourite, but was hit by illness days before the final and struggled to a bronze medal.
With the men's pair of Hamish Bond and Eric Murray also winning their final on Friday, New Zealand tops the rowing medals table with three golds.
