McKeever bags sprint gold

Ed McKeever stormed to gold for Great Britain in the 200m kayak sprint at Eton Dorney on Saturday morning.

The 28-year-old from Bradford-on-Avon, Wiltshire, led from the start as he powered over the line ahead of Spaniard Saul Craviotto Rivero and Canadian Mark de Jonge.

He punched the air as he crossed the line, splashing water at the side of his boat after winning gold.

There was a slight headwind on the lake which meant his winning time of 36.246 seconds was slower than both the times he recorded in Friday's heats and semi-final.

McKeever said he woke up this morning at 5am "like a kid at Christmas wanting to open my presents".

"I am going to get that present in a minute," he told the BBC before his medal ceremony.

McKeever said the race was "really painful" and a headwind made it feel "that bit longer".

"I was really just focused on the first two or three strokes and I wanted to nail those and get out cleanly," he said.

Asked how he was feeling as he crossed the line, McKeever said: "Just relief. It sounds strange. Not elation, more relief and so happy I could do it in front of the home crowd - it's brilliant."

Asked how he felt about being dubbed the "Usain Bolt of the water", McKeever added: "Luckily I have the gold medal to go with it now. I am more willing of that tagline.

He continued: "I am just so pleased that I could do well. I was really buzzing, in the zone and wanting to do well.

"I haven't made any long term plans yet. It could still go either way. I could have a career ahead of me but I am just waiting to see how I feel after this."

He admitted he thought he might struggle with the headwind, adding: "Because I am one of the lighter guys I am more affected by the wind.

"I was kind of out clean (off the start line) and just held on. I am just so happy. I am just so happy that I can contribute to the medals table. I haven't actually seen many other sports. It's literally been canoeing, canoeing, canoeing."

McKeever sang the national anthem as he received his medal in front of 30,000 spectators packed into the grandstands.

In the men's 200m canoe sprint final, Ukrainian Yuri Cheban took the gold in a time of 42.291 seconds, ahead of Lithuanian Jevgenij Shuklin in second and Russia's Ivan Shtyl, who took bronze.

The 23-year-old New Zealander Lisa Carrington won gold in the women's 200m kayak sprint in a time of 44.638 seconds. The silver medal went to the Ukrainian Inna Osypenko-Radomska, while the Hungarian Natasa Douchev Janics took silver, her second of the games.

Britain's Jess Walker, 22, from London, finished in seventh place.

McKeever added: "It has been quite frustrating in some aspects not being able to go out late and socialise because you are concentrating on racing. But I will have a little bit of time off now.

"I am thinking of going to the seaside at some point but obviously there will be a wedding and a honeymoon.

"I knew coming in to this that I was ready. I just wanted to go out and do my best race. If I did that, I knew I would come away with something. I knew I was going to do well but to come away with gold three years later is brilliant.

"I knew I have always been a powerful, speedy athlete. This is one of those sports, it takes all shapes and sizes. It just shows these things don't really matter."

He added: "I turned my phone off a couple of days ago. I have sent a couple of tweets sporadically. The good thing is that you can turn your phone off if you want to.

"Luckily the crowd helped to cheer me on. It gave me a buzz, sitting there on the start line when they announced my name and got a cheer. It made my hair stand on end."

Walker, who missed out on a medal, said: "I enjoyed the race. I think I may give the K1 500m a go.

"I think I might try and fight for that over the next four years. There are some girls out there who just train for the 200m and don't reach the finals. If you're just training for one event it's quite a big risk."