Canoe slalom: Scotland's world No.1, David Florence, has prepared for a two-pronged gold run

Saturday 28 July 2012

DAVID Florence may be running the risk of spreading himself to thinly at London 2012, but the 2008 Olympic silver medallist insists the hard work has already been done.

David Florence is among the favourites

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Florence will compete in the C1 – the event in which he won silver four years ago – as well as the C2, alongside Richard Hounslow, at the Lee Valley White Water Centre, racing in three days of the four-day programme.

Having once applied to be an astronaut, Florence has taken the scientific approach to preparations that he believes will give him medal opportunities in both races.At the most recent World Cup event in Cardiff, Florence won gold in both his events and he begins the London Olympics ranked world No.1 in the C1. As a result, the 29-year-old mathematical physics graduate, who won world and European bronze in 2010, believes he has got his sums right."Richard and I have basically split our sessions 50/50 since we took up the C2," said Florence. "The racing at the Olympics is actually much easier than normal because it's much more spread out. We knew that would be the case four years ago when we started training for it. It has been a learning experience. I'm pretty good now at refocusing. I've had some races where I've had a massive disappointment in my C1 and had to go on in the C2 and we've come away with a medal."Olympic selection was probably the toughest race I've had to do in my career. In comparison, this all seems relatively spread out and we'll get plenty of chances to relax between each event."Having claimed silver last time out in Beijing and with home advantage added to the fact Florence tops the world rankings, it would appear that gold is there for the taking for the Scot. However, the benefits of racing on home turf hasn't exactly been exploited, with the London 2012 venue being rented out to the rest of the world in recent months for much longer than they are entitled to.Florence, though, is adamant he wouldn't have it any other way. "Psychologically, it's a boost to know that I am capable of winning a medal, having done so in Beijing, but I'm not taking anything lightly at all," he added. "I think we want it to be a fair competition, you want to win these things fair and square if you win, so why not? I think people have had more opportunities to train here than they ever have before in the history of canoe slalom at an Olympic Games."n Bank of Scotland, proud supporter of Team GB and proud partner of the London 2012 Olympic Games. Get closer to the Games at bankofscotland.co.uk/London2012

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Canoe slalom: Scotland's world No.1, David Florence, has prepared for a two-pronged gold run

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