The first-day competition of the "Good Luck Beijing" Canoe/Kayak Flatwater Open starts on August 23. A total of six heats were held this morning in the men's K-1 1000m, the men's C-1 1,000m and the men's K-2 1,000m with each event divided into two groups.

In the men's K-1 1000m heats, the British kayaker Tim Brannts finished first among all the kayakers in two groups with a result of 3 minutes 38.770 seconds. However, Group A where  was significantly stronger that Group B and all the top four placers in Group A were faster than the Norwegian kayaker, the first placer of Group B. It is believed that the gold medal of this event will go to a qualifier from Group A.

The men's C-1 1000m preliminary was extremely intense. In Group A, the French canoeist Bertrand Henonic finished first with a result of 4 minutes 13.467 seconds, and the German canoeist Andreas Dittman finished second with a result of 4 minutes 13.785 seconds, only 0.318 second slower than the first placer. Actually, the German canoeist was considered one of the strongest competitors of this event. It is believed that he will have better performance in the final.

The men's K-2 1000m was the last event this morning, as a result, the French pair Philippe Colin/Sebastien Jouve ranked first among all the pairs with a result of 3:27.243, with a clear advantage over the others and the favorites for the title of the event.