Adam Burgess banished the sleepless nights of Tokyo as Team GB’s slalom canoeists continued their superb start to 2024 Olympics.
Burgess claimed a stunning silver in the men’s single, three years after missing out on a medal by an agonising margin of just 0.16seconds.
“There'll be no waking up in the night, wondering what could have been now,” said the 32-year-old. “I really wanted to just leave it all out there today.
"I've paid the price and missed opportunities by being a little cautious at times. And I really wanted to just go out with confidence.
"A lot of people were saying I had to be lucky and I was maybe not the one that was talked about for winning a medal. That gave me a bit of more grit to go and prove people wrong today.”
Burgess was just outside the medal places in qualifying, having been fourth-fastest in the afternoon’s semi-finals, but produced a superb run when it mattered to finish runner-up behind home favourite Nicolas Gestin.
Afterwards, he revealed being inspired by teammate Kimberley Woods, who had been only 12th-fastest in the women’s heats on the opening day of the Games before upping her game in the semis and final to grab bronze.
“I was thinking about Kimberley, who made a similar error yesterday and charged up and got herself on to the podium,” he added. “
I was trying to harness a bit of that grit and determination and finish the run-off strong.”
