Canoeing: Double joy for Florence

Edinburgh canoeist David Florence fired an Olympic warning to his rivals after striking double gold at the slalom World Cup in Cardiff.

High winds caused Friday’s programme to be scrapped and handed the Forth Canoe Club star a daunting weekend schedule but the Olympic silver medallist went quickest in the C1 semis as double Olympic champion Michal Martikan and European gold medallist Sideris Tasiadis surprisingly failed to qualify.

Florence then clocked a flawless 100.46secs in the final to finish 1.62secs clear of Russian Alexander Lipatov. Slovakia’s Alexander Slafkovsky was even faster but four time penalties pushed him down to third place.

In the C2 doubles, Florence and Rich Hounslow bounced back from sluggish runs in the heats and semis to pip Slovenia’s Saso Taljat and Luka Bozic by just 0.02secs in the final. “I can’t believe it!” said Florence. “Double gold in Cardiff – what an amazing weekend!”