Brabants shows off his bronze medal from the Sydney Games

Ratcliffe failed to make it into the team this time around but Brabants will be in Athens and hoping to improve on his efforts of four years ago.

Also looking to go at least one better in Greece will be Nick Smith and Stuart Bowman, who just missed out on a medal in Sydney when they finished fourth in the Canadian Double.

Britain have two women on duty in Athens, including kayak singles competitor Helen Reeves who will be in confident mood after winning a World Cup event in La Seu in the run-up to the Games.

Other canoeists in action are Stuart McIntosh (C1) in the Canadian singles, Ian Wynne and Lucy Hardy (K1 500m) in the flatwater races, while Wynne also teams up with Paul Darby-Dowman for the K2 1000m pairs race.

Tim Brabants: He knows what it means to win an Olympic medal and has the experience to handle the pressure.

A world junior champion in K2 back in 1995, he followed up with an Olympic bronze in the K1 1000m and was crowned European champion in 2002.

There are two types of canoes: the Canadian version, which the North American Indians used for hunting; and the kayak, which was developed by the Eskimos

He could not retain his European title earlier this year, finishing second in Poznan, but will be confident of adding to his medal tally in Greece.

Campbell Walsh: The Scot has hit top form at the right time, winning silver at World Cup events in Athens and La Seu.

Fourth in the European Championships two years ago, he is currently ranked sixth in the world in the K1.

Helen Reeves, Nick Smith, Stuart Bowman, Stuart McIntosh, Ian Wynne, Paul Darby-Dowman and Lucy Hardy make up the rest of the nine-strong canoe squad in Athens.