KAYAK star Bradley Forbes-Cryans need answer to no-one after finishing an excellent sixth on Olympic debut in Tokyo.

The Edinburgh ace won a controversial selection battle in 2019 to beat reigning Olympian champion Joe Clarke to the right to represent Team GB in the K1 class.

But that was two years ago and this is now with Forbes-Cryans having delivered the fifth-fastest runs in his first heat and his semi-final on the biggest stage of them all.

A poor transition from gate four to gate five was the only reason he missed out on the Olympic podium, but he harboured no regrets.

“I feel like I'm walking away with my head held high here,” said the 26-year-old.

“Coming to the Olympics, my only goal was to do my best. I feel like I can walk away from this knowing that I've done that.

“You start your run with great intentions, I had a solid plan in my head and I had no doubts I was going to be able to deliver that.

“Unfortunately, the small margins of sport, I've been on the wrong side of it today.

“I'm thrilled to be here, I've loved every moment of it and I can't wait to get home to celebrate now with all my friends and family.”

Forbes-Cryans touched the 18th gate on a challenging course and finished 8.95 behind eventual gold medallist, Czech Jiri Prskavec.

He was only 3.47 off the medal positions, with silver going to Slovak Jakub Grigar and bronze to Germany’s Hannes Aigner.

The omission of Clarke from the team caused a stir at the time with Forbes-Cryans earning a place in Tokyo on the strength of a fourth-placed finish at the 2019 World Championships and British Canoeing’s weighted selection formula.

“Any British athlete that secures their spot at the Olympics deserves to be there,” he said.

“The naysayers, they're a very small majority and generally they're on the side of the people who have missed out.

“All of the British public have been fantastic with me, I can't thank them enough for getting behind me, and I really felt that back at Team GB HQ.

“Moving forward to Paris, we've got really strong competition within Team GB and all across the team, it's extremely competitive.

“We've had fantastic boats miss out on the places, once again it's going to be an absolute battle and I can't wait to be amongst that.”

For now, Forbes-Cryans will return home and spend some time with his father, who was hospitalised with a stroke last year and subsequently caught COVID.

“Everyone has their problems to deal with and it was really difficult for me and my family to deal with that at the time,” said Forbes-Cryans.

“When I visited him in hospital, all he wanted me to do was get on with my job for preparing as well as I could for the Olympic Games and that’s what I’ve done.

“I love my parents so much and I can't wait to come home to see them.”

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