World recordholder Aimee Fisher has wasted no time making a statement of intent — on the water and off it — at the Olympic kayak venue of Vaires sur Marne Nautical Stadium.
After muddling through two rounds of K2 racing on the opening day, the Kiwi has quickly reverted to her true form, powering to victory in the K1 500 heats, an event she has dominated on the international stage this year.
Her time of 1m 49.16s in the first heat stood as fastest of the day, until the fifth race, when it was eclipsed by teammate and defending champion Dame Lisa Carrington (1m 48.51s).
New Zealand have the two quickest qualifiers for semifinals and Fisher is determined to enjoy every minute.
"I'm really happy with how that went," she told Sky Sport. "Good to get that first K1 on the board, now a couple of days off and then Saturday... the big showdown.
"I wanted to go into that race with joy and courage, and that's been one of my long term goals - to race at the Olympics unafraid. There can always be a lot of fear out there and that's just not how I want to race, even though it's the epitome of our careers.
"Today was a good step in that direction. I'm excited, but a lot of nerves as well."
Fisher, 29, was part of a young K4 combination that finished fifth at Rio 2016, but chose to bypass Tokyo 2020, dissatisfied with the national programme at that time. Instead, she claimed the world K1 500 crown at Copenhagen a few weeks later.
This year, she has enjoyed a competitive edge over Carrington — New Zealand's most successful Olympian with five gold medals — and turned that superiority into the world record at Szeged.
If she looked a little stuck in the headlights during the two-seat competition, Fisher has at least shown her temperament to compete at this level.
"Two days now of just training and preparing," she said. "I've been building eight years for this.
"It's been a long time coming and I've done very single thing I possibly could. I've left no stone unturned and the work's done.
"I just want to light up my lane and see what I can do."
'Super strategically'
For her part, Carrington insists she is pacing herself carefully, with further rounds of K2 and K4 still to come.
"Good to get out there in a K1, after a big team boat day," she told Sky Sport. "Nice little tailwind today, so we can make the most of that.
"Just trying to conserve as much energy as possible, so racing super strategically, trying to be as efficient as possible... also recognising you need to get the practice in for the semi and the final."
Dame Lisa's "super-strategic" effort saw her fastest through the halfway split on the day and finishing within 1.5 seconds of the long-standing Games record, set at Atlanta 1996.
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