David Florence goes for gold today in the canoe slalom at Lee Valley White Water Centre.

The 29-year-old, who hails from Aberdeen but lives in Loughton, will aim to go one better than the silver he won in the event in Beijing four years ago in the C1 event.

He finished fifth in the heats after a solid second run but will first have to make it through the semi-finals.

Only the top eight of 12 competitors go through to the final later in the day.

His main rivals are two-time Olympic champion Michal Martikan, who won Slovakia's first gold in 1996 and beat Florence in Beijing when he claimed his second gold in the event.

France's Tony Estanguet will also be in contention for a medal, as will the young Slovenian Benjamin Savsek, who finished second in the heats.

But Florence represents a realistic chance of a podium finish for Team GB, having finished fifth in Sunday’s qualifying with a time of 93.04 secs.

Following the heats, he said: “I feel relief in some senses, because I had left myself a lot to do, but – tick – job done. There was a lot of pressure. We looked at the video and realised there were a few bits I needed to get right.

“It wasn’t the perfect second run by any stretch, but I knew I just had to do enough to get through.”

Florence will also have a chance of another medal on Thursday after making it into the semi-finals of the C2 yesterday, after finishing seventh in qualifying with partner Richard Hounslow.