Joe Clarke: My Rio gold medal was inspired by London 2012 crowds

Jamie Squire/Getty Images

Listening to the roar of the crowd at London 2012 spurred Joe Clarke on to go for Olympic gold in Rio four years later.

Clarke was not part of the senior set-up at British Canoeing for the last Olympics in the capital and could only watch enviously from the stands as the competition unfolded.

“Hearing that atmosphere was amazing,” he said. “That spurred me on to push for Rio.

"I thought, ‘I can do this’ so I really put a shift in during the winter of 2012, came out in 2013 and won selections. From then onwards, I’ve been flying. Now this is a dream come true.”

Yesterday he sat at the bottom of the course anxiously waiting for his rivals to go knowing that a bronze at the very least was assured.

But first Slovakian Peter Kauzer could not match his time of 88.53 seconds and, when Jiri Prskavec, of the Czech Republic, came up short, he know the gold was his.

He chanted: “Joe Clarke, Olympic champion, Joe Clarke, Olympic champion,” the 23-year-old seemingly still disbelieving the magnitude of his achievement.

In all 18 family and friends were in the Rio stands to watch: his parents, girlfriend, her parents, his uncle and aunt and their son.

The plan is for them all to fly back in celebration on the same flight with him.

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