Canoe – Gibson goes in with world’s best

Eilidh Gibson of the University of Edinburgh will compete in her third ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships at Pau.

The 21-year-old finished twelfth in the 2014 World Championships and fifth in 2015 and the athlete from Kinross is keen to test herself against the best once again.

Gibson finished third in the women’s C12 at the recent British Open in London, behind her world-beating team mates Mallory Franklin and Kimberley Woods.

She said: “That gives me a lot of confidence to know that if I can be up there with them then I can definitely be up there on a world stage.

“I feel I’m in good form. I’m on 12 weeks in a row of no sessions lost to injury which for me is just unbelievable.

“I’d love to make the final and I’ll paddle to the best of my ability. If I do that I’ll be happy with wherever I come.”

Gibson is the GB slalom team’s only full-time student and she is in the fourth and final year of Biomedical Sciences but she will be finished studying in May next year, 18 months before Olympic selection and two years ahead of the Olympics.