Kayak star wants to make a splash in the next Games
DEFENDING his title felt like a different world for Liam Heath who spoke of a battle for Olympic kayak bronze that got personal, writes Tom Harle of Sportsbeat.
The former Loughborough University student, already Britain’s most successful Olympic paddler, became the first to win four medals with K1 200m bronze in Tokyo.
Heath has only been beaten twice in the category since winning gold at Rio 2016 – at a World Cup in 2017 and June’s European Championships.
You sense his rivals on Sea Forest Waterway treasured his scalp almost as much as their own success.
Hungary’s Kolos Csizmadia drove himself to an Olympic record in the heats to beat the Brit, who then had to go through an extra quarter-final, where he broke the record back.
When it really mattered, Heath held off Csizmadia for bronze by 0.125s but finished exactly the same margin behind silver medallist Manfredi Rizza.
Having gone from hunter to hunted, the softly-spoken 36-year-old clearly struggled at some level with being defending Olympic champion.
“It’s been a completely different experience from Rio,” said Heath.
“As much as you try to push it to the back of your mind, coming to an event as defending champion with everyone looking at it you, it’s very much there in your mind.
“You try to push it away and focus on what you want to achieve. There have been challenges with doing that.
“You can prepare your body as much as you possibly can in terms of training, but it’s generally an engine.
“It’s the mind of the athlete that drives that and that has been quite a hot topic. It has weighed on me a little bit.
“It’s flattering to have everyone look towards you as a beacon of performance, as someone to emulate and challenge, to beat you to better themselves.
“It’s a privileged position to be in, that’s been the main factor for me.”
Hungary’s Sandor Totka was the man who inflicted Heath’s first defeat in six years at the European Championships, and he won gold here, 0.167s ahead of the Brit.
Still, Heath added to an unrivalled paddling palmares having already secured K1 200m gold in Rio, K2 200m silver at London 2012 and K2 200m bronze in 2016.
Heath, best known as a fast finisher, struggled a little off the start having been waiting on the starting line for longer than expected.
“I knew I didn’t have the best start and that frustrated me,” he said.
“I had a strong middle and a strong finish, but the first part was slightly frustrating. I have good and bad starts, it’s part and parcel of it. We were held for quite a long time.”
The K1 200m is being removed from the Olympic programme for Paris 2024.
Heath has spoken of his opposition to the move, but in interviews with a medal around his neck, instead he focused on the factors behind a decision to pursue a fourth Games.
“Despite the 200m going, there are little opportunities that have opened up because of that, in slalom, and in sprint with the K2 500m coming back in. I might turn towards that.”
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