REIGNING Olympic champion Ed McKeever is not letting the pressure get to him this week as he prepares for his last chance to secure a spot at the Olympic Games later this year.

The Bradford on Avon kayaker is in Duisburg, Germany, this week for the European Canoe Sprint Olympic Qualifier where he needs a top-two finish in the K1 200m final to ensure he can defend his title in Rio.

The 32-year-old secured his place in today’s final, however, he had to do it the hard way after his time of 36.493 seconds in heat one yesterday afternoon left him in third place and needing to race again in the semi-final.

An hour later, McKeever went in the second of the semi-finals and was able to knock more than a second off his time as he finished second, a fraction behind Italy’s Manfredi Rizza, with a time of 35.231secs.

McKeever is feeling confident in his ability of securing the top-two spot needed to qualify for the Olympics in August despite this being his last opportunity.

“I am feeling happy with how training has gone,” he said.

“I don’t think I am feeling any extra pressure. I have always been pretty good with coping with pressure in the past and I am not too worried with what is ahead.

“Training has gone well over the winter and I am happy with where I am and I have been picking up a bit in the last few weeks.

“For me, I have got to finish top two and I am expecting to do that.

“If I race to my full potential then I am more than capable of getting into the top two and it is just a case of executing the best race I can and then let the rest sort itself out.”

McKeever shot to prominence in 2012 when he followed up his gold medals in the European Championships and World Championships to claim gold in London.

Since then, McKeever has had his eye on defending his crown in Rio but has failed to win a major championship since.

When McKeever finished second to Olympic bronze medallist Liam Heath at last month’s Olympic trials in Nottingham, it left him with only this week to secure his qualification, but the 32-year-old is not going to give up on his hopes easily.

“That has been the target all along and is what I have been competing the last four years towards,” he added.

“To get to this point in time I am not willing to let it slip away that easily. From my point of view, I have been doing some good stuff in training and have had some good races in the past few years.

“I have been picking up medals but at the Worlds last year, it kind of came down a bit and I have been working on not letting that happen again.”