THE northern lights shone gold and silver last night as Britain claimed first and second in the canoe doubles (C2) on the white water course at Eton Dorney.

Aberdonian Tim Baillie, with Etienne Stott from Manchester, took gold as they finished 0.36 seconds ahead of Aberdeen-born David Florence and Richard Hounslow from Harrow.

It was reward for long days spent on the water in -8˚C temperatures during the winter, analytical attention to detail, and a GB rivalry which drove each other on.

The Slovakian Hochschorner twins, Pavol and Peter, who had been bidding for a fourth successive gold medal in this event, were third after incurring a two-second penalty. They had seemed invincible – world No.1 and world champions for the past three years.

Baillie, from Westhill and a member of Aberdeen Kayak Club, learned the sport from his mum, Christine, and dad, Ken, on the Dee and the Don. "I'm too young to remember the first time," he said. "They used to put me on the end of a bit of string, and then pull me back when I drifted downstream."

Florence's silver medal makes him unique. He won slalom silver in the singles four years ago and he is the world's first paddler to win medals in both disciplines, now Britain's most successful ever. Last night, he revealed how Britain had done it.

"When we look at how to do C2 well, we look at the Hochschorners. We look at every single race they do, and we watch it on video, every single turn, their technique – everything. We are just pleased and honoured to have beaten them today."

It was personal compensation for disappointment in the singles earlier this week, when he was a strong contender for gold.

Baillie, and Stott who learned to canoe on the Great Ouse in the Scouts, completed the arduous 23-gate run in a time of 106.41 seconds and was the first to go out. The water thunders down at 13 cubic meters a second over the 250-metre run which drops 17 feet. They set a target nobody could match.

They had been only sixth fastest qualifiers for the final, with the other British pair leading and last to go. Florence and Hounslow were almost a second ahead of their rivals after two-thirds of the run, but lost it in the final section: "possibly between the final gate and the finish line," he said, "but we can't be unhappy."

It was not a complete surprise. Mechanical engineering graduates Baillie and Stott were world bronze medallists together last summer, and celebrated European gold earlier this year.

Stott had dislocated his shoulder attempting to negotiate gate 19 on the same course last year, and spent six months recovering from surgery, but he refused to let it haunt him yesterday. "It's rehabilitated now, and I have not thought about it for a long time. Especially when you are going fast in the canoe," he said.

Baillie paid tribute to his rivals, who had beaten them at the UK trials. "Since Beijing, David and Richard starting the rivalry between us has worked really well," he said. "Since then C2 in our country has become hugely successful because of it. Though we won today, the Hochschorners are still the greatest C2 crew."

The 33-year-old Stott said it was "worthy" that his compatriots had got silver.

"It is because of them we were able to put the final piece of the jigsaw together," he said. "Without the mental strength we have developed we couldn't have performed today."

The Eton Dorney course is rarely the same. "The difference is where they put the gates," added Stott. "It's like one big book which you only end up getting tested on a few pages."

Florence lived just a street away from Chris Hoy as a youngster in Edinburgh, and it was Hoy's treble in Beijing that inspired him to try the doubles in which he won World and European medals in his first season. He was also introduced to the sport by his father, who used to race K1 class. However, this was the reward for 15 years of endeavour having started recreational canoeing in 1996 at Comrie, in Perthshire.

His partner, Hounslow, missed out on Beijing, losing the place to Campbell Walsh, another Scot, who had won silver in Athens.

Florence, who plays the bagpipes, and studied Mandarin to prepare himself for Beijing, has a physics degree from Nottingham, which he chose – like Baillie and Stott – because it was the national centre for his sport.

Before the Beijing Games he applied unsuccessfully to become an astronaut. This nearly returned to haunt him yesterday. "One of my mates tried to buy an astronaut suit off e-Bay, so he could wear it to the Olympics. Fortunately I don't think he was successful."

We did not ask if he was over the moon yesterday. He has heard it too often before.