Brabants sprints into semi-finals

Defending Olympic champion Tim Brabants advanced to the final of the men's canoe sprint, admitting it would take something special to make it on to the podium.

The 35-year-old has spent the past 18 months battling to recover from a tendon injury and looked short of the early pace set by Canada's Adam van Koeverden. There were roars of delight from the crowd at Eton Dorney when it was announced he had qualified for Wednesday's final of the men's K1 1000 metres by four hundredths of a second.

Brabants said: "Coming in to that last bit, it hurts a lot in that last 100 metres but I had the crowd roaring up there and it just pushed me on."

He added: "You heard a lot of other athletes talking about it last week, about how the crowd pushes you on, but until I was out there doing it I didn't appreciate the impact it has.

"I still feel like I am on an upward trajectory, I hope. It hasn't been easy and these guys are performing exceptionally well at the minute and it is going to take a really special thing for me to just to make it on the podium on Wednesday.

"But I feel in good shape and I am hoping for a good result."

Brabants said he planned to spend Monday recovering before light training on Tuesday.

In the men's C1 1000 metres, Richard Jefferies failed to make it through to the final but his best event is the men's C1 200 metre sprint later in the week.

Jess Walker, Rachel Cawthorn, Angela Hannah and Louise Sawers made it through to the final of the women's K4 500 metres, on Wednesday.