Draper won the spot at the expense of fellow Australian's Will Forsythe and Sam Lyons following a K1 event won by Italian Daniele Molmenti ahead of German duo Alexander Grimm and Sebastian Schubert.

Following the race Draper said that he was "relieved" to have made it to London.

"I think relieved is the biggest word to describe it, especially after doing a run that I wasn't happy with," he said.

"I was pretty frustrated at the bottom after not finishing it off the way I liked."

Having already sealed her place at London 2012 following her performance in the women's K1 heats, Australia's Jessica Fox clinched the women's C1 title ahead of compatriot Rosalyn Lawrence (pictured), and said that she was "really happy".


"The aim for this race was to gain Olympic selection," she added.

"So coming into the semi-final first of all I just wanted to put down a good run and see where that put me against the best paddlers in the world who are out here.

"That was good enough to make the final and to come away with a medal, I'm really happy with how I raced.

"It's good to compares ourselves with [the top racers] and I'm really happy with how I've gone."

In the men's C2, Poland's Marcin Pochwała clinched gold, followed by countryman Piotr Szczepański, with Australian pair Kynan Maley and Robin Jeffery securing places at the Olympics after finishing higher than their other Oceanic rivals.

In the men's C1 final, French Olympic champion Tony Estanguet took gold ahead of compatriot Denis Gargaud Chanut in a race that saw Maley again meet the Olympic criteria.

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]