Serghei Tarnovschi won the first gold medal for Moldova at the Nanjing Youth Olympic Games, in kayak-canoe sprint. In the final, the 17-year-old athlete outran Vadim Korobov of Lithuania, outstripping him by 4 seconds. Czech athlete Krystof Hajek finished third, IPN reports, quoting a note of the Ministry of Youth and Sport.

Serghei Tarnovschi became the favorite of the competition after he ranked first in the qualifying rounds. He is to also compete in kayak-canoe slalom.

This gold medal is the first medal won by the Moldovan athletes at the two Youth Olympic Games held so far.