Imogen Grant and Emily Craig remain on course for Olympic Games gold in Paris after lightweight women’s double sculls heats victory

Imogen Grant and Emily Craig cruised into the semi-finals of the lightweight women’s double sculls at the Olympic Games in Paris over the weekend.

Bar Hill-raised Grant and Craig are unbeaten since finishing fourth at the previous Games in Tokyo three years ago.

And the favourites for gold lived up to that billing in the French capital on Sunday with victory by more than four seconds in the heats.

The comprehensive victory has seen the pair qualify for the semi-finals, which take place tomorrow at the Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium (11.34am).

Grant, who studied at Trinity College during her time with Cambridge University Boat Club, said: “Our coach Darren (Whiter) said to us this morning ‘Go out and enjoy it,’ and whenever he says that we turn around and go, ‘Well, we’re going to do a bloody good job first and enjoy it afterwards’.

“I enjoyed it and I enjoyed moving out on the other crews. We’ve had a really good six weeks. Lucerne (World Cup) was a good race for us and it’s exciting to think that we’ve only gotten better since then.

“We’ve had some really good pieces in training and depending on what conditions are thrown at us, I think we’re ready. We have a huge amount of confidence in ourselves.

“I can’t think of another crew in the event that has experienced as many different types of races as we have. Whatever wind direction or other crews we have to race is always a race we can reference. We can take confidence from past performances.”

Meanwhile, Grant’s partner Craig, who hails from Pembury in Kent, added: “We are very process driven and that’s the main thing we focus on. We don’t want to think about what the other crews are doing. All we can do is go as fast as we can from A to B and hopefully that will be faster than the rest of the world.”