David Florence looking for home comforts in 2015 as he chases down Rio spot
BySportsbeat
Updated 07/04/2015 at 14:29 GMT
In a sport of fine margins, David Florence admits he has a crucial edge this year as he trains regularly at Lee Valley, the venue for the 2015 World Canoe Championships.
Britain's David Florence competing at the London 2012 Olympics (Reuters)
Image credit: Reuters
Florence will forever have a strong association with the Lee Valley White Water Centre course having claimed C-2 silver alongside Richard Hounslow at London 2012 to add to his C1 silver from four years earlier.
The double Olympian is now 32 years old, but showed no signs of slowing down when he went undefeated over three days of racing in the C1 single canoe class at the UK Canoe Slalom Championships held at the same venue last weekend.
He and Hounslow also won the C2 category by more than four seconds meaning he will represent Great Britain at the European Championships, World Cup series and World Championships this year.
The latter will also be held at Lee Valley this September with the race for Olympic qualification taking place at the same time.
Florence took gold in both the C1 and C2 at the 2013 World Championships in Prague, and with 2015 set to be a crucial year as he chases a third Olympic Games appearance, the Scot knows home comforts could play into his hands.
"It's probably a bit of home advantage for us guys who train here day in day out," he said. "We will know the water better than anyone else.
"The best guys are still going to win but it'll give you that little bit of edge that might help.
"This year's really crucial with Rio not that far away so it's a good time to be paddling well.
"The Olympics come down to one run in four years in a very inconsistent sport. It went alright on the day, it just went perfectly.
"We're in a very strong position in British canoeing but we still need things to go right on the day."
© Sportsbeat 2015
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