Team GB's Joe Clarke insists missing out on Olympic gold in kayak singles has only 'added coals to the fire' as he prepares for second shot at a title next week

Joe Clarke says his fifth-place finish in the kayak singles has added ‘coals to the fire’ ahead of his second shot at a medal in Monday’s kayak cross.

The K1 world champion was left disappointed at the Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium after clocking 89.82sec in the final run of the final, 1.60sec behind Italian winner Giovanni De Gennaro.

But Clarke, who won gold in that event at Rio 2016, will get another chance of a podium place in Paris when he competes in the new kayak cross competition, in which he is also the world champion.

‘Fifth place wasn’t what I came here for, but I’ve still got another chance for a medal,’ said the Team GB paddler. ‘It’s definitely added a few coals to the fire for the kayak cross later in the week.’

Clarke produced a flawless run in the K1 semi-final to qualify quickest for the final, but he got caught in the rapids before gate seven, costing him valuable time.

‘It was a very fast final, I didn’t do too much wrong,’ said Clarke. ‘It is hard to beat yourself up when it is so close. I didn’t crumble under the pressure. I kept a clean run.

‘If you reran the final, I think my run would potentially have won.’

Clarke was cheered on from the stands by his one-year-old son Hugo, who was wearing a ‘Go Daddy’ T-shirt, alongside his wife Annabel in a ‘Go Joe’ top.

‘I am sure he will be very proud of me,’ added Clarke. ‘He won’t have noticed the difference between first and fifth, he will just be happy to see me afterwards.

‘He has his supporters’ T-shirt on and all he does is point to me on the T-shirt and say, “Da, Da, Da”. If I feel gutted right now, I will walk over in five minutes’ time and be fine.’