World champion Adam van Koeverden of Oakville, Ont., earned his nomination to the Canadian Olympic team for the 2008 Beijing Games on Saturday with a victory in the men's K-1 1,000 at the Canadian team selection trials in canoe and kayak.

"We're excited as a team to have Adam get the nomination," said Graham Barton, the sprint high performance director for CanoeKayak Canada. "He's had a great training camp and we're looking forward to seeing him compete in Beijing against the best in the world."

Heading into the Beijing Games, van Koeverden will be one of Canada's best hopes for Olympic gold. At the 2004 Games in Athens he won gold in the K-1 500 and bronze in the K-1 1,000.

The rest of the races this weekend will determine assignments for the World Cup events this summer for which performances will have an impact on Canadian Olympic team selections.

Also on Saturday, in the men's K-2 1,000, Andrew Willows of Gananoque, Ont., and Richard Dober of Trois-Rivieres, Que., were the winners with Angus Mortimer of Ottawa and Christopher Pellini of Mississauga, Ont., in second.

In the men's C-1 1,000, Mark Oldershaw of Burlington, Ont., was first with Thomas Hall of Pointe-Claire, Que., second.

In the men's C-2 1,000, Gabriel Beauchesne-Sevigny of Trois-Rivieres, Que., and Andrew Russell of Dartmouth, N.S., were the winners.

The competition ends Sunday.

Courtesy Canadian Sport News