Aberdeen’s David Florence finished second in the men’s C1 at the ICF Canoe Slalom World Cup in Prague.
The triple Olympic silver medallist, who is a reserve for the upcoming Games in Tokyo, set a time of 97.44 and was only 0.24 seconds behind Czech winner Lukas Rohan.
He said: “It feels really, really good, to be honest. It has been a strange time with Covid and it was tough missing out on the Olympic place.
“But it’s just really good to be back paddling how I feel I’m capable of and to get on the podium in second – pretty close to the gold – I’m so happy with it, delighted.”
The 38-year-old Scotsman only snuck into the final in the last qualifying spot and added: “I thought I was really lucky to get into the final – sometimes it goes your way.
“I actually thought I was going to beat the Czech guy Rohan but he just pipped me at the line.
“After that we were so close, I thought everyone was going to go just in front of us or just behind us and luckily for me it was the latter.”
🚨OFFICIAL MEN'S C1 FINAL RESULTS🚨@David_Florence takes a stunning second, only 0.24 away from a gold medal.
Disappointment for @slalom_burgess who would have been on the podium in 3rd next to his compatriot but for a retrospective 50-second penalty. pic.twitter.com/FHVEMve00p
— British Canoeing (@BritishCanoeing) June 13, 2021
Another British team stalwart, Fiona Pennie, 38, blitzed her way through the Extreme Slalom – which will be introduced to the Olympics at Paris 2024 – only to narrowly miss out on the win in the final to Austrian Corinna Kuhnle.