Adam Burgess claimed his first Olympic medal with canoe slalom singles silver at the Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium in Paris.
The Stoke-on-Trent paddler, the fourth-fastest finisher from the semi-finals, put in a superb run save a small error on upstream gate 17, but recovered at the bottom of the course, crossing the finish in 96.84 seconds for the fastest run of the final with three men left to challenge.
Burgess was still sitting in gold medal position when home favourite Nicolas Gestin, the reigning world silver medallist, left his best run for last, destroying the Briton’s leading time in 91.36, 5.48 seconds faster than the British runner-up, with Slovakia’s Matej Benus rounding out the podium.
It was redemption for Burgess, who avenged his maiden final from three summers ago in Tokyo, where the now-32-year-old finished fourth and missed out on a medal by just 0.16 seconds.
It was another magical moment for the British paddlers after Kimberley Woods collected bronze in the women’s kayak singles on Sunday, and just as she vowed she would do after her own magical moment – was in the stands cheering on her team-mate.
Burgess’ jaw dropped when he realised he was guaranteed a medal after Germany’s Sideris Tasiadis, who pipped him to Bronze in Tokyo, did not do enough for a podium place in Paris with his 97.27 – and it just became a matter of which colour he would collect.
And it was gold for the hosts, the already-boisterous home crowd – despite the blazing heat – roaring as their man crossed the line for his blistering championship finish.
Burgess finished fourth-fastest from the afternoon’s semis in 97.21 seconds, a penalty-free run that nevertheless highlighted a few areas of improvement as he navigated a tricky middle section, keeping calm to assure himself a chance at a medal.
The Stoke City supporter became Great Britain’s first ever canoe slalom U23 world champion in 2015, and claimed C1 individual silver at the European Championships in Prague before taking home bronze in the team event at the World Championships in Rio.
He is a five-time world medallist, all in team events, including silver at last September’s home championships at Lee Valley.
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