THE tattoo is not the only durable aspect of Deborah Kerr’s Olympic adventure. Having asked and gained special permission from her parents to get the five rings inked on her body before heading for Tokyo, the 23 year-old canoeist made sure her appearance would not be a fleeting one.
The Motherwell athlete will return to the waters on Tuesday for the K1 semi-finals after storming through to win her 200m quarter-final in a time of 42.742, with GB team-mate Emily Lewis – who had started out in front - narrowly missing out on joining her.
Earlier Kerr, who’s enjoyed a strong season to date, had finished third in her heat in a time of 41.168 to get her Olympic experience under way, narrowly missing out on the chance to go straight to the semi-finals on offer to the first two finishers.
She will now look for another strong paddle at the Sea Forest Waterway to push her way into the final and contend for a medal.
The ultimate challenge will be to somehow topple New Zealander Lisa Carrington who hasn’t been beaten over this distance for a decade and took gold at the London and Rio Games.
But for now Kerr was happy to have made it through the first two rounds.
“I’m pretty delighted with that quarter-final,” she said. “In the first 100m there were a lot of us challenging and I had quite a bit to do on the last 100m. I’m just pleased to get to the next stage, it’s really hard to do that.
“I knew there was a chance to get straight through to the semi-finals. I’ve backed up two 200s in the same morning a couple of times this year so that wasn’t an issue. It was all about how fast everyone else was.
“My start could have been a little better. I was a little nervous on the start line so I will work on that ahead of the semi-finals.
“It’s all been surreal, the Olympic Games feeling. I still can’t quite believe I’m here and it’s real.
“I know the semi-finals are going to be tough, so to make the top four and reach the A Final, that would be my year made. The field is top class. It’s much harder than a World Championships.”
Kerr is also scheduled to go in the 500m event that starts on Wednesday.
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