Olympics canoe slalom: Great Britain’s Adam Burgess wins canoeing silver

Great Britain’s Adam Burgess claimed Olympic silver in the men’s canoe singles final at the Vaires-Sur-Marne Nautical Stadium.

The 32-year-old qualified fourth fastest with a clean semi-final performance and produced another impressive run in the final to win his first Olympic medal.

“This is a moment I’ve dreamed of all my life,” he told BBC Sport.

“There’s been so many times in races where I’ve not taken my opportunity and where a mistake put me off the podium, or turned into more mistakes. To see me go into first with just a few boats to go was absolutely magic.”

Burgess clocked a time of 96.84 seconds, only eclipsed by France’s Nicolas Gestin who crossed the line 5.48 seconds faster to win gold.

Slovakia’s Matej Benus clinched bronze, while reigning world champion Benjamin Savsek received a damaging 50-second penalty to finish 11th.

Burgess missed out on the podium by an agonising 0.16 seconds at the delayed Tokyo Games and once again fell just short of a global podium when he finished fifth at last year’s World Championships.

Since then he has been an advocate of yoga and breathwork as part of his training. He named his build-up to the Games ‘Project Send It’ – determined to finish the final with no regrets following his near miss three years ago.

Burgess was visibly stunned after completing his run but knew he was guaranteed a medal when Germany’s Sideris Tasiadis failed to better his time.

It was GB’s fifth medal of the day and comes after Kimberley Woods won kayak single (K1) bronze on Sunday.