Olympic Champion Joe Clarke earnt his second medal in the space of a week, as he blew away the rest of the field to take gold in the Canoe Slalom World Cup in Krakow.

Waltham Abbey’s Clarke finished on the top step of the podium, fending off Slovenia’s Peter Kauzer and Jiri Prskavec from the Czech Republic to claim the victory after an anxious wait.

Having finished in ninth place for the semi-final, Clarke was one of the first up and despite the adverse weather conditions, posted a time of 76.96 after a superb clean run to lay down the gauntlet for the rest of the field.

After being one of the first men to tackle the course in the final, the 25-year-old had to endure a long wait but his win was confirmed when neither Kauzer, who finished in second, nor Prskavec, who claimed third, could beat the Olympic gold medallist’s time.

The win saw Clarke claim his second medal in the space of seven days, after he secured bronze in the opening round in Slovakia last week, with the 25-year-old starting to replicate the form which saw him crowned champion at the Rio Olympics in 2016.

Speaking after the race, Clarke said: “It’s good to be back. I felt good coming into the European’s but it didn’t quite happen there, but the last two weekends have been great. I am back on top of the podium again and it was the same top three as Rio which makes it even funnier.

“I was last off in the semi-final and second off in the final, which meant I had a pretty short turn around, but I just went out there and put down a run that I knew was really good and then had a long nervous wait, rather than a short one.

“I was pretty sure it would be a podium spot and particularly once I saw the other top splits coming through with nobody managing to get within half a second of my time. I lost a bit of time on the bottom of the course, but the deficit for the others just kept getting more and more. I feel really positive and I am made up with the result.

“I am looking forward to getting on the start line again and keeping the momentum going from one venue to the next, but I am not taking it for granted as there are a lot of things that go into each performance. I am looking forward to next week in Augsburg and on to Rio at the end of the season for the World Championships, which is one of my favourite courses.”