There was double gold for Ukraine and another world title for Australia’s Curtis McGrath on day three of the 2018 ICF Paracanoe World Championships in Montemor-o-Velho, Portugal.

2016 Rio Paralympic gold medallist Serhii Yemelianov successfully defended his KL3 200 world title, finishing ahead of Brazil’s Caio Carvalho and Russia’s Leonid Krylov.

“This is a great result for me,” Yemelianov said.

“Now we can look ahead for Tokyo.”

It was the first time on the top of the podium for Ukranian teammate Maryna Mazhula, victorious in the women’s KL1 200.

Mazhula finished ahead Italy’s Eleonor De Paolis and Great Britain’s Jeanette Chippington, the defending World and Olympic champion.

Curtis McGrath took another KL2 world championship gold, his time of 41.735 quicker than the times he set winning last year’s world title and the 2016 Paralympic gold medal.

The Australian said he had been dealing with a lot of distractions this year so was uncertain how he would perform in the final.

“That was pretty tough, but we had really great conditions and I was pushed all the way,” McGrath said.

“The competition is really heating up, it’s two years tomorrow until the Paralympic Games, so it’s exciting. Momentum is building for the Games.

“It’s definitely been difficult. I had a good prep for this competition, thankfully I did enough, just.”

McGrath finished just ahead of the rapidly improving New Zealander, Scott Marlew, with another Ukranian, Mykola Syniuk, third.