Triple Olympian kayaker Alyce Wood has eased into the semi-finals of the women's K1 500m but New Zealand's five-time gold medallist Lisa Carrington is looking dangerous.
Out to improve on eighth place in the event in Tokyo, Wood clocked a heat time of one minute 51.39 seconds to finish behind Hungarian Alida Dora Gazso.
But Carrington, who stunningly won the women's K1 200m, K1 500m and K2 500m in Tokyo to bring her gold tally to five among an Olympic haul of eight, showed she remains red-hot favourite
In her fourth Games, Carrington, 35, was fastest in the six heats, crossing in 1:48.51 with her Kiwi compatriot Aimee Fisher the only other paddler to go under 1:50.
With her two-year-old Florence watching on, Woods was happy with her showing, with the top two in each heat bypassing the quarter-finals.
“I knew it was going to be a tight one and pushed the line,” the Queenslander said.
“It wasn't my best race, it’s just nice to get one out of the way - the emotions and the nervousness and everything out of the way and ready for the semi.
"To have Florence on the sidelines cheering me on is incredibly special.
“Yesterday when I was warming up, I didn't know that they were here and they were on the sidelines and I heard her say: ‘Go Mummy!’.
“She's got a shirt on with my face on it and it's all really special.”
Australian teammate Tom Green won his heat of the men's K1 1000m and will join Wood in Saturday's semi-finals.
Green won the K2 1000 with crew mate Jean van der Westhuyzen in Tokyo and the duo have qualified for the semis in the K2 500 event in Paris.
