Motherwell parents' pride at achievements of Olympic qualifier Deborah Kerr

Deborah, 23, of Brogan Crescent, landed a bronze medal in the K1 individual kayak 200m event at the recent World Cup to set her up nicely for a potential glory run in Tokyo, where her first qualifying heat runs into the early hours of Monday, August 2 UK time.

Dad David said: "Now that she has gone and got that bronze medal, we are all wanting her to do as well as she can at the Olympics.

“There were hundredths of a second between Deborah and fourth place at the World Cup. It was so, so close.

“Not everyone was there competing against Deborah. You’ve got Lisa Carrington, the current Olympic and World champion who hadn’t come over.

“And there will be other countries competing in Tokyo who will also make tough competition.

"Adding Lisa bumps Deborah out of the medals, but if she can go and make the final for the 200m we would be absolutely delighted.

"If she can make the final, you never know.”

After the conclusion of the K1 200m on August 3, Deborah will contest the K1 500m on August 4 and 5.

"She won both of these events at the British selections in April,” David said.

Deborah is coached by Slovakian Kristina Medovcikova, who will be making history in Japan as the first female canoe sprint coach for Team GB.

"Kristina built up the Scottish Performance Squad over seven or eight years,” David added.