Triple Olympian Alyce Wood and Olympic K2 gold medallist Tom Green are through to the semi-finals of the K1 500m and K1 1000m in the sprint kayak after dominating their heats in Paris.

Alyce clocked a time of 1:51.39 behind Hungarian Alida Dora Gazso in heat two to bypass the quarter-finals and move straight into the semi-finals.

Teammate, and Tokyo Olympic gold medallist Tom Green, had such an advantage in his K1 1000m heat over second place Josef Dostal (CZE) that he stopped paddling and cruised to the line in a time of 3:35.99. The Australians will line-up for the K1 semi finals on Saturday.

For Alyce, the result builds on her Olympic performances from Tokyo where she finished eighth in the A Final and in Rio where she finished eighth in the A Final of the Women’s Kayak Double 500m.

“I had my wits about me before the race. I knew it was going to be a tight one and pushed the line,” Alyce said.

“It wasn't my best race, it’s just nice to get one out of the way. The emotions and the nervousness and everything out of the way and ready for the semi.

‘It’s just nice to blow out the cobwebs, get the atmosphere, get everything, and kind of just get into the next one.

The three-time Olympian cited having her husband Jordan, a 2016 Olympic kayaker, and two-year-old daughter Florence on the banks as added motivation.

“The commentators over the loudspeaker are chatting and the key thing they spoke about before our race was me and having Florence in 2022 and coming back,” Alyce said.

“I never thought I'd be a storyline, that's for sure. But to be here and have Florence on the sidelines cheering me on is incredibly special.

“Yesterday when I was warming up, I didn't know that they were here and they were on the sidelines and I heard her say, ‘Go Mummy!’.

“She's got a shirt on with my face on it and it's all really special.”

“It's something you can't take for granted. I knew I wanted to come back and I wanted to go to a third Olympics, but to make that happen, there's so many unknowns. This is the pinnacle of sport, to be here again is very special.”

Green won the K2 1000 with crew mate Jean van der Westhuyzen in Tokyo. The duo have qualified for the semis in the K2 500 event in Paris.

Words courtesy of olympics.com.au.‍

‍Image courtesy of Garry Bowden.