2005. In 2006 Larsen was never in top shape and did not win any international titles. His best results were 5th on K1-500 in the European Championships, and 6th on K1-1000 in the World Championships. This wake-up call may well have turned out to sharpen his focus towards the 2008 Olympics for which he was a clear gold candidate. After a disappointing 2006 he was back on track in 2007 and won the Gold medal on K1-1000 at the European Championships, and he finished 3rd in the World Championships later the same year. Before the 2009 season Verås Larsen decided to go for K2 with Jacob Norenberg, and did not race internationally in K1. Together they won the 2009 European Championships at K2-1000 in Germany and finished 5th in the World Championships in Halifax later the same year. Verås Larsen held the individual (K-1) 1000m world record of 3:24.920 (Duisburg 2004) until it was bettered by Ben Fouhy of New Zealand (Poznań 2006) with the time of 3:24.495 (backwind of 2 m/s). Olympic Champion The number one milestone of his career came in the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. Over a few years he had tried to combine K2-1000m, K1-1000m and K1-500m. This was a major challenge as the event racing times were very close in the championship time schedules. In Athens he won gold medal in K1-1000, followed by an impressive bronze medal in K2-1000 one hour later. He also finished 4th at K1-500. There was some uncertainty around his fitness level in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. Since 2005 his best result in the World Championships was 3rd in 2007. He came to Beijing with a 6th place in K2-1000 (with Mattis Næss) as his best result from the European Championships, not having participated in K1-1000. In Beijing he won a silver medal at K1-1000 meter only beaten by Tim Brabants (GBR), and claimed that he was very happy as he had done his best race since 2004. He completed a great season by finishing 4th in the Olympic K1-500. He earned his second gold of Olympics in 2012 London Olympics in Canoe Sprint's Kayak Single (K1) 1000m event. Marathon canoeing In 2001 and 2002 Verås Larsen won the K2 marathon World Championships together with his companion Nils Olav Fjeldheim. Step down and comeback After the 2009 season Verås Larsen decided that he would not race in