ED McKeever received a reminder of the intense competition he is likely to face at London 2012 after finishing third in today's K1 200m final at the European Championships in Zagreb.
The Bradford on Avon paddler, 28, was beaten as Serbian paddler Marko Novakovic took victory, with Maxime Beaumont from France in second.
McKeever, 28, won the first two World Cup meetings of the season this summer and is widely expected to challenge for gold at London 2012.
But he said: “I knew when I crossed the finish line that I hadn’t had a great race.
"At this level unless you perform at the top of your game every time people come past you in this event, that’s the way it is.
"I felt really good warming up and then come the race I made a couple of small errors and just didn’t do my best performance.”
MORE NEWS ON WILTSIRE'S OLYMPIANS IN THURSDAY'S GAZETTE & HERALD AND FRIDAY'S WILTSHIRE TIMES AND AT THE OLYMPICS SECTIONS AT GAZETTEANDHERALD.CO.UK AND WILTSHIRETIMES.CO.UK
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