The 33-year-old doctor has been working at Nottingham’s Queen's Medical Centre since returning from the Beijing Olympics, where he won gold in the K1 1000 metres and bronze in the 500m.

But he told insidethegames that the lure of a home Olympics had become too strong to resist.

"When I got my job here my employers asked me 'Are you back to medicine now?'

"And I felt like I was.

"But they weren’t surprised when I said I felt like I needed to go back into training for London. 

"I thought I had achieved everything I wanted to in the Olympics.

"But that extra incentive of competing at a home Olympics in front of your home supporters is something that happens only once in a lifetime for an athlete.

"I’ve spoken to Australian athletes who competed at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, and they said that the excitement of Olympic competition increases tenfold when you are preparing for a home Games.

"So for me that is a huge factor in terms of stepping away from my career again."

Brabants, who has competed at the last three Olympics, has twice put his medical career on hold in the past in order to further his competitive ambitions.

"All of my main competitors from Beijing have carried on in the sport, and I’ve been keeping my ear to the ground about new talent coming through.

"There are some very tough competitors out there."

He will resume training at the Royal Canoe Club in Kingston at the beginning of February, linking up with the coach who has guided him throughout his career, Eric Farrell.

"The people at the National Lottery have been really supportive in getting me back onto the World Class funding programme, and I am also getting help from my sponsors Matrix and Gatorade,” said Brabants.

"I’ve been keeping pretty fit with a number of different sports in the space of the past year.

"Although I’ve been working long hours in my job, it has given me a rest from the physical and mental demands of competition and I’m really excited about getting back to training.

"But it’s nerve-racking too, because I know how much it hurts!"

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