Saúl Craviotto Rivero has paddled his way to a first individual medal at the 2012 Olympic Games…

The 27-year-old Spanish sprint canoer earned the silver in the men’s 200m kayak final at the London Games, finishing a mere 0.294 seconds behind Britain’s Ed McKeever in the sport’s fastest and newest Olympic discipline.

McKeever’s strong start may have been the difference in the race. He had the best start in the eight-man field and comfortably held on in a fierce headwind at Dorney Lake, finishing with a time of 36.246.

Canada’s Mark de Jonge took home the bronze with a time of 36.657.

Craviotto, who has been racing since the mid 2000s, had previously won the gold medal in the K-2 500-meter event with Carlos Pérez at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.