World rewards add focus to motivation

As a man who has been so close to Olympic gold in his last two attempts, one might assume David Florence’s two silver medals would provide all the motivation he needs to go one step better in Rio next year. The Olympics are the biggest sporting event in the world, but try telling that to the Aberdonian. He has already climbed to the top of the mountain in his sport and beaten his peers. The Olympics, by comparison, are less stressful. He said: “The world title is actually a harder one to win than an Olympic gold as the depth of competition is greater. “In the Olympics there is one boat per nation, but in the worlds there can be as many as three boats per country. “In the most recent world championships I was up against three Slovaks who were all ranked within the top four in the world. Next year I’ll face just one of them. “It’s great for me, but not so for other guys such as my fellow Briton Ryan Westley. “He achieved a podium finish in the world championship but he won’t be at the Olympics which is a great shame for him after all the work he put in.” Florence may regard the world championships as tougher to win, but it does not mean his desire to be an Olympic champion has dimmed as he hopes it will be a case of third time lucky. He said: “I believe the world championships are more competitive, but the Olympics remain the pinnacle as there is so much build-up and pressure to get there and, of course, it only happens once every four years. “That makes it exciting, but in a different way to the world championships.”