Joe Clarke sets sights on Olympic gold in Tokyo

The 24-year-old's victory in Rio was one of the memorable moments of the 2016 Games as Clarke delivered a first Olympic K1 medal for 12 years.

As part of his build-up to Brazil, Clarke headed to the New Zealand Alps to tackle the free-flowing natural water rapids, throwing up man-made slalom gates to help fine tune his skills for the challenges ahead, which would have included an eight-hour hike if anything had not gone to plan after taking a helicopter out to the remote venue.

While that proved a winning formula, Clarke knows he and his coaching team at the Lee Valley White Water Centre will have to continue to think 'outside of the box' to keep the Staffordshire athlete on course for another gold in Japan.

"I thought I might have a bit of a comedown (after Rio), 'what happens next?' kind of thing, but that did not really happen," Clarke told Press Association Sport as he prepared with the rest of the 10-strong British Canoeing squad for the European Slalom Championships which get under way in Tacen, Slovenia at the start of June.

"After a bit of time off, I sat down with my coach and talked about what was next, if there was any motivation to carry on, of which there is massive amounts, even after the success. I kind of signed myself up for the next four years to chase that dream again in Tokyo to repeat the success.

"2017 is the first year of the stepping stones to get there, which starts with the European Championships in a couple of weeks and then there are the world championships in September.

"No one in my category of the K1 men has ever won two Olympic titles, so that will motivate me to do it again, to put your name in the history books as a legend of the sport."

Clarke added: "It is about trying out a few different training methods this year, because it is not necessarily what you have done before which is the best.

"You always have to look outside of the box, there are different ways of doing things and I don't necessarily do the same as everybody else because you have to believe in what you are doing is the best thing for you, which the New Zealand trip was at that moment in time.

"I probably wouldn't go to the same river again, but it is probably something I would look to do again ahead of Tokyo because it did have a great effect on me."

Clarke, who received an MBE in New Year's Honours for services to canoeing, relocated down to Waltham Abbey in Essex four and a half years ago to make full use of the elite training centre, part of the permanent legacy from London 2012.

David Florence, Rio 2016 silver medallist in the canoe double C2, is also part of the European Championship squad, as his focus now turns back to the single C1 category, where he is the reigning world champion, for the next Olympic cycle.

Mallory Franklin, Kimberley Woods and Eilidh Gibson will all be out to stay on course for the women's C1 event which will be included in Tokyo 2020 for the first time.

"The facility we have got here at Lee Valley is one of the best in the world, but also the funding we have allows us to have a world-class support staff and so together that combines to help British Canoeing become a real powerhouse going forwards," said Clarke.

"Everyone here is hungry to get that top spot, so I cannot rest on my gold medal, because if I do then people are going to start catching me up and overtaking me, I cannot allow that to happen.

"We are getting to a stage where have numerous competitors who could challenge for medals at the Olympic Games - it is success driving success, which is fantastic as well."