Sprint stars ready to hit the water

The men's K1 1000m heats are first up on Day 10, where Great Britain's Tim Brabants will be hoping to defend the title he won at Beijing 2008.

Brabants has had a tough time with injury since his success four years ago and needed surgery in 2010 after he ripped his right pectoral tendon doing bench presses in the gym.

Brabants is hoping to put that behind him when he takes to the water tomorrow, saying: 'When I sit on the start line I know I have given it everything I can, but there are a lot of talented athletes in our sport so it is going to be tough and with different winners at all the major races this season it shows the quality of the field.'

The biggest threat to Brabants’ crown comes from a Canadian world champion who so impressed his home town that they named a street after him.

Adam van Koeverden will be looking to show his strength when the heats get underway at 9.30am.

The 30-year-old, from Oakville, Ontario - who also competes in the K1 500m - so impressed his local mayor Rob Burton at the last Olympics, where he won silver, that Water Street near his local canoe club was renamed Adam van Koeverden Street.

In the men’s C1 1000m, the man to beat will be Hungary’s Olympic champion Attila Vajda.

After winning gold at Beijing 2008, the 29-year-old was named the Hungarian sportsman of the year and his success has continued after winning the World Championships last year.

Team GB has one of the favourites in the men’s K1 200m sprint in Ed McKeever, but he is likely to face a challenge from the 24-year-old Polish competitor Piotr Siemionowski, and the 28-year-old Canadian Mark de Jonge.

The women’s K4 is likely to be dominated by Belarus and Germany.