White water kayaking is challenging enough, the torrent of water flowing at about 36mph as paddler and kayak battle to start on the course. But having achieved gold at Rio 2016 going the normal way, Britain’s Joe Clarke opted to go upstream battling against 16 tonnes of water – the equivalent of eight elephants a second, akin to “climbing a mountain” on water. Clarke decided to undertake the challenge of kayaking up the 300-metre Troja White Water Course in Prague, a venue he knows like the back of his hand having frequented it on training camps since he was a young boy. Unsurprisingly, it proved a gargantuan ask, Clarke almost giving up after 20 attempts, the lactic acid building in his arms and the paddler seemingly too tired to make it up the bottom drop in reverse fashion. But, in the end, the 24-year-old persevered and cracked the course successfully.