GOLDEN pillar boxes for Olympic champions were among the post-2012 features.

Aberdeen-born slalom canoe champion Tim Baillie, however, has two, and he explains how with a tale in fine local tradition.

"They painted a gold postbox, but accidentally got the wrong one in Westfield, quite a long way from my parents' house: a little box on a post. One story went that it was the next box due to be painted red, so they'd save money by painting it gold instead. Another was that it was cheaper to paint a wee box. Local residents complained - there was big round one at the shops near my parents' house. The painters apparently came into the estate from the wrong end, and had been told to paint the first box on the right, but they arrived from the opposite direction. So now I have two gold ones.

"The shops are now being renovated, and the pillar box is lying on the ground. My mum saw it, and phoned and emailed to check. If they were getting rid of it, she wanted it for her garden. But it's going back up again."

Baillie, who won C2 gold with Etienne Stott at the 2012 Olympics, is not relying on mailboxes to promote canoeing's latest message.

Today marks 200 days to the 2015 ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships, on the Olympic course at Lee Valley, first time in the UK for 20 years.

Baillie is: "honoured, happy, and keen to promote paddling. I am proud to be an ambassador for the World Championships." But he won't be competing. He hung up his paddle a year ago and is now more comfortable on a mountain bike, and with nappies. His son Stewart is a year old.

The Worlds will be the trial for next year's Olympics. The Scots plan a strong presence, but must negotiate the World team trial in April.

David Florence, the 2008 and 2012 Olympic silver medallist from Aberdeen (the latter behind Baillie) won World gold in both C1 and C2 in 2013 - the first such double in 60 years, while Helensburgh-born 2013 European champion Fiona Pennie claimed World K1 silver last year.

Baillie dismounted from his bike in North Wales yesterday to reflect on post-Olympic life. With his gold-medal ex-partner, Stott, chasing Rio selection, are there withdrawal symptoms?

"No. I am really fine, as much as some aspects of getting a job and parenthood are daunting. Retiring was no snap decision. I'd thought about it carefully. I did not want to regret it, and knew it was permanent. I'm at peace. I've done things I could never have done if not retired. I could not continue when my heart was not in it. It was the right decision. It would be nice to race at a home Worlds, but I know what would be involved. I'm happy not to spend all my time canoeing any more."

Of a foreign rival's one-arm pull-ups, he says: "If I'd dedicated my life to it, I could never have done that.

"I always enjoyed lots of sports. Slalom is one of the most awesome Olympic sports. Not many match it for variety and excitement, but you're doing the same thing all the time, and have to manage your risk. When I started, it was a big adventure: new courses and paddling big white water you hadn't seen before . . . pushing your limits. At top level it's more about going to the same places and getting infinitesimally better at the same thing. I was really keen to have a go at something I hadn't done.

"I raced mountain bikes last year, and don't canoe that often. Time is limited with a young son. It's a massive lifestyle change - a multitude of variables with control of none of them. Stewart is very energetic - quite tiring for me and my wife. So not having a full-time job is fortunate. We can share the load. Lack of sleep can drive you to despair at times. You need to keep your sense of humour."

He'd like to introduce Stewart to paddling, but is wary about expectation - his wife, Sarah, was a Canadian Olympian. His parents, Ken and Chris, put Tim in a canoe on the Dee aged three. "I'm too young to remember," he says, "but I have a photo. They used to put me on the end of a bit of string, and then pull me back when I drifted downstream."

For a few years at Nottingham University he worked using his mechanical engineering degree before Lottery support arrived. Now he's looking for an engineering career after almost a year on the speaking and corporate circuit. "I would have to start at the bottom. An Olympic title carries no privileges."

Florence, from whom he snatched 2012 gold by a tiny margin, is "undoubtedly" capable of gold in Rio. "He is double world champion. Along with [fellow Scot] Campbell Walsh, he is the outstanding athlete of his generation in canoe slalom. It's very hard to be consistent and dominate. Yet David has been world No.1 for a year. There's no reason why he won't win gold in Rio. You'd be a fool to bet on anyone in slalom, but he will be a very real favourite for a medal in both categories."