The Canoe Slalom World Championships got underway at the Lee Valley White Water Centre with all six Great British boats in action advancing through to the semi-finals, while James Guy’s achievements were the talk of his home town. Here’s our review of the last 24 hours.
Olympic champion Etienne Stott admitted to breathing a huge sigh of relief after surviving an injury scare to keep his Canoe Slalom World Championships dream alive.
As the action got underway at Lee Valley White Water Centre, it was a confident start for Great Britain with all six boats in action progressing to Saturday's semi-finals.
However, for Stott the drama unfolded before he took to the water with concerns that a last minute injury sustained in training was going to end his assault before it had even begun.
But the London 2012 gold medallist took to the start line and he and partner Mark Proctor finished in 94.81 seconds to advance in eighth place.
A relieved Stott said: "It was a good attacking run but it was really intense.
"We had a lot of uncertainty leading into the race and we hadn't been able to train over the last couple of days on the white water and didn’t know if we could actually take this run on.
"But we were really committed to it and went really hard at it and it was a decent enough attempt to get us through on the first run which is the achievement we were after.
"It has been horrible the last few days and there were bordering on a few tearful moments this morning when I didn’t think I was going to be racing today or able to carry it off.
"But to get through makes me feel very proud and I count it as one of the toughest moments of my whole career. I am proud of myself and Mark and our incredible support team that all contributed to me getting me out there."
Elsewhere in the C2 competition, Olympic silver medallists David Florence and Richard Hounslow were in confident form and posted a clean run of 93.12 to finish third and qualify direct to the semi-finals, while Adam Burgess and Greg Pitt then made it a full house.
It was also a good day for the GB women kayakers with Lizzie Neave finishing eighth and qualifying direct to the semi-final along with Fiona Pennie who finished three places above her in fifth.
Kimberley Woods also showed her class with an impressive second run performance to finish in first place and qualify for the semis in the third fastest time of the day 92.11 seconds.
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British swimmer James Guy has been honoured by his home town after winning two gold medals and a silver at this summer’s World Championships.
James, originally from Bury and now who trains at Millfield, won the British Swimming team’s first medal in Kazan, Russia, and started what was to be the country’s most successful ever world level campaign.
The Mayor of Bury, Cllr Stella Smith, said: “To become the first British man to win a gold medal in the 200m freestyle is an outstanding achievement, and is fitting testimony to James’s ability and dedication.
“It does the borough proud, and I know that many people here were thrilled to see ‘one of ours’ do so well in such a prestigious international sporting event.
“I offer James my warmest congratulations and wish him the very best in all his future endeavours.”
© Sportsbeat 2015