Liam Heath claimed a record fourth canoe sprint medal from his third Olympic Games

Heath held off Hungary's Kolos Csizmadia, who beat him in the heats and semi-finals, by 0.125s to reach the rostrum. The 36-year-old finished exactly the same margin behind Italy's Manfredi Rizza in silver and 0.167s behind gold medallist Sandor Totka. Heath, Team GB's most successful paddler of all time, added to K1 200m gold in Rio, K2 200m silver at London 2012 and K2 200m bronze in 2016. Heath finished first in all three rounds, from heat to semis to final, in Rio and in retaining his world title in 2019. Having finished third in his heat this time around, he took part in the quarter-final but made the most of an extra race by setting an Olympic best. Heath, who became a father in 2017, delivered Team GB's 49th medal of the Tokyo 2020 Games. Heath, 36, from Guildford, said: "You don't know where you've placed, you've done your best and pushed it as hard as you can do. "If you can say that, getting off the water is a decent effort. "The last 100m has always been the strongest part of my race. Everyone can accelerate quickly and reach top speeds, it's all about maintaining that. "I was a little hesitant off the start and didn't reach my potential in terms of peak speed, I'm still happy with the performance. "To win a medal at a third Games, it's hard to put it into words. It's what you're working towards, just to be at your best for these events, I've learnt so much about my journey. "Each Games, each competition, you learn so much about you, about people you compete against, the people you work with day in, day out. "A massive thanks to everyone watching at home. It's not gold but I'm happy with my performance."