Rio 2016: David Florence and Richard Hounslow take silver but just miss gold in canoe slalom

British duo repeat success of London 2012

Richard Hounslow and David Florence in action in the men's canoe slalom (Getty)

Great Britain's David Florence and Richard Hounslow won an agonising silver medal in the C2 canoe slalom on Thursday lunchtime with a thrilling error-free run in the final that looked like it was going to bring in gold.

The duo, going out eighth out of 10 pairs, were 1.5 seconds ahead of the Slovakian pacesetters at the first time split and 1.45sec up at the next - but lost ground over the closing stages to miss out on gold by 0.43 seconds.

The Slovakian cousins Peter and Ladislav Skantar took the top prize after a thrilling run that was a tall order to beat as they set the time of 101.58 but the British pair looked like they had it in their hands until they hit the line, looked up and realised they were just shy.

The silver is a repeat of the medal the duo won in London in 2012 and despite the so-near-yet-so-far feel to the occassion, the duo expressed their delight after the race.

Windy but sunny conditions meant the 24 gates – six that have to be passed through against the current and 18 with - were a moving obstacle to avoid, making the job all the harder for the pairs. As a result there were penalties aplenty in the final – two seconds added to the time for each gate clipped - but none for Hounslow and Florence who navigated the course brilliantly.

On Tuesday, Florence blew his hopes of a medal in the C1 solo category with a catastrophic run in the final when he clipped two gates and floated home in last spot. He had been a funk ever since but raised himself and in tandem with Hounslow, from Harrow, the result on Thursday was a much prettier outcome.

Florence also won silver in Beijing in the C1 solo class and four years ago at London 2012 he had to settle for another second when he and Hounslow were beaten by fellow Brits Timothy Baillie and Etienne Stott.

Before Beijing, Florence had applied unsuccessfully to become an astronaut in the European Space Agency training programme, and would have been over the moon with a gold, to match that won surprisingly by Brit Joe Clarke the day before in the K1 category, but it wasn't to be.

Earlier in the day they had qualified for the final with the third fastest time. Elimination was all but impossible with 10 of the 11 going through. The dubious honour of the ones to miss out, to the disappointment of the locals, went to the Brazilian pair making it a damp squib for those that had travelled out to the Deodoro venue created on a converted military base.

The semi-final was more a chance to take aim and test this 300m course carved into a Rio hill and lay down a marker. The two British 34-year-olds hit just one gate, No 17, and finished in 109.60sec, just 1.6sec off the fastest time set by the German pair Anton Franz and Jan Benzien. That their final time was so much quicker - eight seconds - was a source of pride for the pair - but was so good they could have expected gold with that sort of time.

Britain's Fiona Pennie carved her way into her final too with a brilliant race, finishing second in the K1 semi to raise hopes of further British success on the course. However, the 33-year-old from Dumbartonshire could only finish fifth in the final after she hit two gates and ended up seven seconds behind the winner Spain's Maialen Chourraut.

Pennie competed in the K1 in Beijing but did not advance beyond the first round after finishing in 17th place. She then failed to qualify for London 2012 but since then her form has taken a turn for the better as she won the 2013 European title and silver at the 2014 World Championships. Her final performance was a blow but was a marked improvement on her previous Olympic efforts.