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Fearless Adam Burgess turned Olympic agony to ecstasy with a stunning canoe slalom silver.
The 32-year-old missed out on the podium by 0.16 seconds in Tokyo but banished those demons as he mastered the brutal course at Stade Nautique de Vaires-sur-Marne.
Burgess has spoken previously of a desire to ‘take more measured risks’ in finals and he chose the perfect moment to do just that, completing what he called ‘Project Send It’ in style as he banked Team GB’s first men’s C1 medal since 2008.
“There’ll be no waking up in the night wondering what could have been this time,” he said, “I really wanted to leave it all out there. I’ve missed opportunities by being cautious at times and I wanted to go out with confidence, paddle with style and enjoy myself.
“I said to my coach beforehand ‘we have to take this on’. If I wanted to win a medal, I needed to paddle with confidence. I’m just so happy.”
Burgess’ face was a mixture of shock and delight when he hit the summit with his time of 96.84s but there were still three paddlers left to compete.
The Stone star’s passion for breathwork came to the fore during his nervous wait to discover if another near miss awaited him.
But only Nicolas Gestin clocked a quicker time, wrapping up gold to the delight of a raucous 12,000-strong home crowd and leaving Burgess a proud runner-up.
“It’s nuts,” he said. “Finishing fourth again would have been absolute heartbreak. I lost a lot of control of my breathing at the end, but the important thing is I was in control before.
“I was so nervous but when I got up to the start, it melted away and I just tried to harness the energy of the crowd. We are not a huge sport; we don’t often get to showcase it in front of this many people.
“I love this sport so much, it’s the most beautiful sport in the Olympic Games, so I was trying to lock into that and enjoy myself.”
Burgess’ medal followed hot on the heels of Kimberley Woods’ K1 bronze and there could be more to come from Britain’s canoe slalom stars.
The newly crowned Olympic silver medallist is the only member of the quartet in Paris not to have a World Championship gold but felt flying under the radar worked in his favour.
“I have been trying to visualise success and I’ve not been able to do it without getting emotional,” said Burgess, who is one of over 1,000 elite athletes on UK Sport’s National Lottery-funded World Class Programme, allowing them to train full time, have access to the world’s best coaches and benefit from pioneering medical support – which has been vital on their pathway to the Paris 2024 Games.
“I wasn’t really being talked about for a medal, people were saying I would have to be lucky. That gave me more grit to go and prove people wrong.
“I’m just so grateful for the support of everyone back home, my family and friends who were in the stands today, and National Lottery ticket buyers enabling us to do our best day in day out. It makes days like this possible.
“This whole journey was worth it even before the race started. I’m not going anywhere; I’ve got at least one more Olympic cycle in me.”
With more than £30M a week raised for Good Causes, including vital funding into elite and grassroots sport, National Lottery players support our Olympic and Paralympic athletes to live their dreams and make the nation proud, as well as providing more opportunities for people to take part in sport. To find out more visit: www.lotterygoodcauses.org.uk
