Two years after Denis Gargaud Chanut, Maialen Chourraut and Joe Clarke won gold at the Rio Olympics, the trio have returned to the Deodoro course for the 2018 ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships.

All the individual medallists from 2016 will be among the more than 200 athletes from nearly 40 nations that have arrived in Brazil for the world championships. It’s the first major international event at the Olympic venue since the thrill and excitement of two years ago.

On that occasion Frenchman Gargaud Chanut won the men’s C1, Spain’s Chourraut the women’s K1, and Great Britain’s Clarke the men’s K1.

The trio have shown only glimpses of their gold-medal winning form since 2016, but will be keen to put on a good performance at the venue where they achieved their crowning moment.

“It’s really strange, lining up in the blocks again and feeling once again the vibe of the course,” Clarke said on the eve of the championships.

“You just have to remind yourself what it takes to be good on this course. The hairs do stand up on your arms – it does make you feel good.”

Australia’s Jessica Fox, coming off a record-breaking season, Slovakia’s Alexandar Slafkovsky and Czech Jiri Prskavec head to Rio as the form paddlers of 2018.

Fox is a three-time C1 world champion and has won the K1 crown twice, including last year in Pau, France. She is unbeaten in C1 this season, and won three of the five K1 World Cups on her way to becoming the first athlete to win both World Cup titls.

Slafkovsky triumphed in the men’s overall C1 World Cup, and Prskavec took the men’s K1.

Fox and Prskavec were both bronze medallists in Rio in 2016.

The 2018 ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships begin in Rio on Tuesday with the team events, and run through until Sunday.