The British Olympic Association (BOA) has today announced the nine athletes selected to represent Team GB in the flat-water Canoe Sprint at the London 2012 Olympic Games.
Eight of the athletes will compete in the kayak across six events, while one will race in the canoe in two events. The announcement was made today at Eton Dorney in Buckinghamshire, which will host the Canoe Sprint events between 6th and 11th of August.
The athletes that have been selected to represent Team GB are:
Men’s K1 200m
Men’s K2 200m
Men’s K1 1000m
Men’s C1 200m & Men’s C1 1000m
Women’s K1 200m
Women’s K1 500m
Women’s K4 500m
CLICK HERE to view full athlete profiles
Taking to the kayak for his fourth games will be 35-year-old Tim Brabants, who became Britain’s most decorated sprint canoeist by winning gold in the Men’s K1 1000m at the Beijing Games four years ago. It was the first gold medal that a British athlete had won in any discipline.
The London Games also marks the inauguration of 200m events, and Edward McKeever has been selected to race in the Men’s K1 200m after winning the gold in the first two World Cup events of 2012. McKeever also won gold at the World Championships and European Championships in 2010 and silver in 2011.
The partnership of Jonathan Schofield and Liam Heath, who have won two silver medals in their World Cup events this year, will compete in the Men’s K2 200m. The pairing also won silver at the 2011 World Championships in Szeged.
Richard Jefferies will be the only British athlete to race in the canoe where he is set to compete in both the Men’s C1 200m and C1 1000m events. The 25-year-old from the Isle of Wight was fast-tracked into canoeing through UK Sport’s Sporting Giants programme.
22-year-old Jessica Walker, who made her Olympic debut in Beijing in the K2 500m, will become Britain’s first representative in the Women’s K1 200m event. The women’s K1 500m race will be contested by Rachel Cawthorn, who won gold over 1000m at the 2010 European Championships in Trasona and bronze over the Olympic distance of 500m, going on to match the 500m achievement at the 2010 World Championships.
The two individual female canoeists will combine their efforts in the Women’s K4 500m, where they will be joined in the kayak by Angela Hannah and Louisa Sawers who will both be making their first appearance at an Olympic Games.
The addition of the sprint canoeists brings the total number of athletes officially selected to compete for Team GB at London 2012 to 242 across twenty sport disciplines: archery, athletics – marathon, badminton, boxing, canoe slalom, canoe sprint, cycling, diving, fencing, hockey, modern pentathlon, rowing, sailing, shooting, swimming, synchronised swimming, table tennis, taekwondo, triathlon and weightlifting.
The athletes were formally nominated to the BOA for selection to Team GB by GB Canoeing, the National Governing Body for canoe sprint in the UK.
Team GB Chef de Mission Andy Hunt said:
John Anderson, GB Canoeing Performance Director and Team GB Canoeing Team Leader said:
Brendan Purcell, National Performance Coach said:
Ed McKeever said:
Liam Heath said:
Jonathan Schofield said:
Tim Brabants said:
Richard Jefferies said:
Jessica Walker said:
Rachel Cawthorn said:
Angela Hannah said:
Louisa Sawers said: