British paddler Adam Burgess was overcome with emotion after realising he finally wrote his redemption story with Olympic canoe slalom C1 silver in Paris.
The Stoke-on-Trent athlete finished an agonising fourth by the narrowest of margins three summers ago in Tokyo, missing out on bronze by just a 0.16 second margin in his maiden Games.
But on Monday evening at the Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium, Burgess, the ninth of 12 men to compete, set down a brilliant run of 96.84 to launch him into a gold medal position he held until the final challenger, French world silver medallist Nicolas Gestin, laid down a blazing 91.36 to claim gold in front of a roaring home crowd.
“I was thinking about Olympic Games gone by when I was watching in 2004 in Athens, Beijing. And I was thinking about my parents, my family, everyone out in the stands here to support.
“I was thinking about the disappointment in Tokyo, I was thinking about, just you know, so much.
“I’ve been trying to visualise success at this race in the build-up and I’ve not been able to do it without getting emotional, to be honest.
“I had this image in my head of hugging Craig (Morris), my coach, at the finish line, and we’re all ugly crying at the bottom.
“That’s exactly how it panned out.”
There was an extra touch of serendipity attached to the milestone moment for the 32-year-old, who realised he was guaranteed a medal when the third-fastest semi-finalist from the afternoon – the first of the three final competitors who could deal him another fourth-place heartbreak – failed to crack the top three.
That man was Sideris Tasiadis, the very same man who pipped him to the podium in Tokyo but only managed 97.27 in Paris, where he rued his own near-miss after Slovakian Matej Benus collected bronze with a 97.03.
Burgess is an enthusiastic yoga practitioner and the founder of Inspired Breath Academy, described on its website as “a passionate advocate and mentor guiding you towards mastery in the art of breathing”.
The Stoke City supporter laughed when admitted even he “lost control of my breathing” during the wait to confirm his medal, then the colour, though credited his respiratory regime for keeping him cool during his run down the course.
Burgess added: “I’m the only one on the team without a world title.
“A bit of the build-up, I think a lot of people were saying I had to be lucky and, you know, I was maybe not the one that was talked about for winning a medal.
“And yeah, I’ll admit, there was a little bit of that that gave me a bit of grit to go and prove people wrong today.
“It’s relief, but I was telling myself before, this morning, when I was back at the hotel, this whole journey was worth it, even before this race even started.
“The last 20 years, I’m so lucky to have found this sport as young as I was and get to enjoy it for so long.
“I’m not going anywhere. I’ve definitely got at least one more Olympic cycle in me.”
Burgess will be back in action in the kayak cross, which starts with the time trials on Friday 2 August.
On Tuesday, Olympic medallists Mallory Franklin and Joe Clarke start their campaigns with the qualifying heats for the women’s C1 and men’s K1.
