DORNEY, England (Reuters) - Ukraine's Yuri Cheban stormed to gold in the men's inaugural C1 200 at the London Olympics on Saturday in a thrilling race before packed grandstands on Dorney Lake.

The sprint over 200 meters is new to the Olympic program and designed to increase interest in the sport, with the canoeists taking three strokes per second in an explosive fight for the line.

Cheban, a bronze medalist from Beijing, flew off the start and had half a length lead by 100 meters. Lithuania's Jevgenij Shuklin took silver and Russia's Ivan Shtyl, the 2010 world champion, took the bronze in what had been a very open event.

(Reporting by Kate Holton; Editing by Clare Fallon; For all the latest Olympic news go to http://www.reuters.com/london-olympics-2012)