Mallory Franklin says seeing her canoeing teammates follow in her Tokyo footsteps is inspiring her own pursuit of clinching a second consecutive Olympic medal in Paris.

Adam Burgess sealed a scintillating silver medal on Monday 48 hours after Kimberley Woods had bagged bronze for Britain’s first gong of the Games.

And on Tuesday, Windsor star and 2020 C1 silver medallist Franklin kicked off her campaign to climb one step higher on the podium by navigating her way through her heat in sixth at the Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium.

Franklin, 30, has loved seeing the tables turn post-Tokyo and admits Burgess’ C1 silver and Woods’ K1 bronze is fuelling her and teammate Joe Clarke’s quests for glory.

“It has been a bit crazy,” she said.

“You definitely just sign off from being an athlete for a bit and you’re just a spectator.

“It’s weird then trying to lock back in to your own processes and planning, especially with racing in the afternoon.

“It has been really cool to see my old groupmates go and get medals and they really deserve it.

“I’m really happy that they got to experience it after missing out in Tokyo in the sidelines of seeing me do it.

“It’s really cool and its definitely inspiration for myself and Joe to try and join them in that and maybe take one step higher.”

Clarke, who won K1 gold at Rio 2016 but failed to qualify for the behind-closed-doors Games in the Japanese capital three years ago, also advanced through his heat with a fourth-place finish.

And speaking on the impact of them both watching Burgess and Woods, Franklin added: “I think it’s really good.

“It’s cool to see what we, as a nation, are capable of.

“Joe and I are both really strong contenders in what we’ve got left to go.

“It’s really exciting and being able to know that our team is already successful now so there is a bit more freedom on me and Joe just to go canoeing and do it for ourselves more than feeling any pressure back on the team.

“It’s really cool and I’m looking forward to seeing what happens in the next few days.”

Franklin is over 1,000 elite athletes on UK Sport’s National Lottery-funded World Class Programme, allowing them to train full time, have access to the world’s best coaches and benefit from pioneering medical support.

And looking ahead to Wednesday’s semi-final, she said: “For me, it’s about trying to make a really clear plan that I’m confident in and feel that I’m attacking and then see what happens.”

With more than £30M a week raised for Good Causes, including vital funding into elite and grassroots sport, National Lottery players support our Olympic and Paralympic athletes to live their dreams and make the nation proud, as well as providing more opportunities for people to take part in sport.  To find out more visit: www.lotterygoodcauses.org.uk