Lani Belcher and Angela Hannah confirmed for Olympics in Rio
By Andy Charles
Last Updated: 19/07/16 8:54pm
Lani Belcher and Angela Hannah have been confirmed as members of the British canoeing squad for next month's Olympics in Rio.
Belcher and Hannah missed out on qualification for the Games when they could only finish third in the European qualifying event in Duisburg in May.
But the disqualification of Romania's 11 participants by the International Canoe Federation (ICF), as well as five more from Belarus, means the K2 Canoe Sprint pairing will now be able to live their Olympic dream.
Speaking to Sky Sports News HQ, Hannah said: "We're amazed really. It all came about at the last minute, and we only learned it could be happening on Saturday.
"Cutting it fine but I am super excited. I really hope they ensure it is clean in Rio but we just need to keep building in our boat and make sure we go fast ourselves.
"I think we'll be more relaxed just because we are there. We really want to make the final and then we'll just have to see what happens on the day."
Belcher said: "A week later [after Duisburg] there were rumours going around that it could possibly be happening so we've just been trying to keep focused and see what happened.
"We don't go into a race thinking there are people on the start line taking drugs, we just focus purely on ourselves.
"The ICF have taken a stance and it's a good move forward what they have done. I'm sure they'll continue to keep a zero tolerance in our sport."
