I'm a little bit subdued and despondent - I set myself high standards and was after gold

Paul Ratcliffe

Schmidt powers his way to the goal medal

He did well to recover because if he had crossed the line under water he would have been disqualified.

The first run left him third at the halfway stage and 3.58 seconds behind Schmidt.

Ratcliffe went for broke on the second leg and again incurred another two second penalty.

But the Briton held his nerve to improve on his first time.

That guaranteed him bronze but his time proved enough to overhaul Pierpaolo Ferrazzi, who was originally second after the halfway stage.

He could then only hope Schmidt would capitulate, but that was not to be.

Hindered

The British pairing of Stuart Bowman and Nick Smith, ranked ninth in the world, came into the final run of the men's canoe doubles in fifth position.

Bowman and Smith just missed out on a podium place

The canoeists picked up two penalties on the opening run which hindered their chances of picking up a medal.

The Britons were made to wait for the final four sets of competitors and were unlucky to lose their grip on second to finish fourth by just half-a-second.

Slovak pair Pavol and Peter Hochschorner won the gold - Poland won silver and the Czech Republic bronze.