Despite the difficulty of the course and the intensity of the competition, Florence, who competes in the men's C1 semi-final tomorrow, refused to make excuses for their performance.

"We were not good enough. It's a difficult course but others managed, so that was not the problem," the Briton, winner of an Olympic silver medal with Hounslow in the event at London 2012, said.

Hounslow also exited the men's K1 at the semi-final stage after failing to match the required speed to sneak into the top 10, eventually finishing in 15th place.

Last year's winner Vavrinec Hradilek, whose season has been plagued by injury, missed out on a place in the final as well along with fellow Czechs Jiri Prskavec and Vit Prindis, who both failed to replicate their good form coming into the championships.

Vavrinec Hradilek, the men's K1 defending champion, failed to make the cut in the semi-final ©Getty Images




Meanwhile in the K1 women's heats, European champion Ricard Funk of Germany secured a semi-final spot after her pace through the first section compensated for her picking up three penalties late on.

Olympic and world champion Émilie Fer of France showed good speed throughout the course, while Austria's 2014 ICF Canoe Slalom World Cup Series winner Corinna Kuhnle did enough over her two runs to keep comfortably within the top 10.

The fastest time of the day was set by Spain's Maialen Chourraut, who stopped the clock at 1min 51sec on her second run.