THE sound of his national anthem floated around Lee Valley as the freshly-minted medal dangled delectably around his neck. An occasion David Florence had dreamt of ever since he learnt the art of piloting a canoe amid the relatively benign froth of Edinburgh’s Water of Leith.

Yet the orchestral accolade at London 2012 was neither for him, nor his paddling partner Richard Hounslow. It was to honour the victorious accomplishment of British team-mates Tim Baillie and Etienne Stott in landing the Olympic C2 slalom title, with the Scot – for the second successive Games – knotted amid conflicting emotions of settling for silver, not gold.

The personal inquest, the torturous process of pondering what minor additional gains could have been attained, did not cease upon their descent from the podium. “It was longer than a lot of races,” Florence reveals. “There was a lot of disappointment at the time. I was so caught up in it, coming so close and not doing it. But as with anything, a bit of time and perspective helps. We got silver. That’s great.”

One more redemptive opportunity, perhaps a last one, will arrive in Rio next summer. First, the 33-year-old will take aim at a third global gold when the world championships begin on the same stretch of swirling water in London today. First up, the individual C1 event in which he shone in Beijing seven years ago but stumbled in 2012. Then, later this week, a two-man charge.

Home advantage, he hopes, will assist with the initial goal of maximising Team GB’s places in Rio. “It’s fair to say I know the course much better now than in 2012. We’ve been training there day in day out since then. We had a World Cup here and it was good to come back and win that after the disappointment in the C1 at the Olympics.

“But it’s going to be so different in the world championships. It’s a more competitive field and it’s harder to win here because you have three athletes per nation rather than just one at the Olympics. Plus it’s not got the same hype.”

Ambitions are high for his solo excursion. The vagaries of the water mean not even the best are offered guarantees with margins measured in fractions of a second. Yet earlier this summer, Florence was undefeated over three days of the UK championships. At the worlds in 2013, he was triumphant both alone and in tandem, ensuring he remains among those with a nominal target on their life vest.

“There probably is a bit of that,” he smiles, “but I don’t think it ever factors for me. I’m so driven to perform, for myself, for my own goals, that I don’t think it has an impact. It’s nice to go to races and feel you’re very competitive, to have the bib Number 1. That gives you more confidence that you have a better chance to getting on the podium. And I enjoy being part of the team because there’s never pressure put on me to do well.”

Having been together since 2008, he and Hounslow have learnt to deflect the expectations directed their way. Canoeing breeds singularity, Florence offers. Duality is a step out of the norm, the cherry but not the cake. “It’s definitely a bit of a difficult sport to be in a boat together because you make so many mistakes on a given day and it’s hard to attribute who has made them.

“It always feels for each of you that it was the other one. But one thing that’s stood me and Richard in good stead is that we are able to get on well. We don’t waste time with arguing or not seeing eye to eye. This is more an individual sport but you come to an event where it will either be both of you getting it right or both of you getting it wrong. That was a big learning curve but it’s been good for me.”

He will be among four Scots aiming to light up the world with 2008 Olympian Fiona Pennie going in the K1 this morning, with younger prospects Bradley Forbes-Cryans, in the K1, and Eilidh Gibson, in the C1, pushing off tomorrow in their senior debuts. All will return here next month for the British team qualification series, three races that, for most, will be boom or bust.

However with credit in the bank from this year’s Europeans, where they claimed bronze, another top-three finish would effectively spare Florence and Hounslow the trauma of fearing one mistake could thwart their shot at earning an anthem of their own.

“It is very early selection,” the Scot says. “Normally it’s been spring of Olympic year. But it allows the team to spend time in Rio rather than looking at domestic selection. It will be nice to know for whoever is going.”