A HUGE year awaits a Warrington Olympian as he goes all out to secure a spot for Rio in 2016, writes Alex Bysouth.

Not even tying the knot with fiancée Emma will stand in Johny Akinyemi’s way of reaching a second successive Olympic Games with Nigeria.

Having quit his job and been prepared to put his honeymoon on hold, the canoe slalom athlete from Padgate has set his sights on the World Championships in London this September.

“They will act as the first stage of the qualification for Rio 2016, so all of my training is building up to the World Champs,” explained the 26-year-old.

“The top 15 nations will qualify for Rio. After that the qualification will be at a continental level.

“It was such a privilege to compete at the Olympics and I just feel that it would be a shame not to give it my all between now and 2016.

“It would feel incredible to qualify for my second Olympic Games. I learnt a lot from 2012 and think I would be able to perform much better at Rio if I were to qualify – there is no other competition that compares to the Olympics.

“It’s going to be a busy year. I’m also getting married in May, but we are having to push back the honeymoon until after the World Champs.

"My training schedule is going to be really busy in the build up – luckily Emma is very supportive when it comes to my training.”

Self-funded athlete Akinyemi, an accountant now sponsored by Qfor, defended his African Championships title in 2014, but combining training, working and studying proved tricky.

“The biggest problem since the Olympics has been finding the funding in order to train full time,” he added.

“To pay for my equipment, races and training I was having to work a lot. That meant I didn’t have the time to train to the extent I was before the Olympics and this shows in my results.

“I took the bold move to quit the job I was doing in November in order to focus on my training.

“I sat my final accountancy exams in December so all being well I should be a fully-qualified accountant in the new year – this will give me loads more time to focus on training."

“I was really struggling to fit in the training I needed to commit to whilst working a typical 9-5 office job.”

As well as getting back to racing shape, Akinyemi has to compete with the lack of white water in Warrington.

“I need to spend time getting back into the same shape I was in before the Olympics,” he added.

“I’ve been enjoying too many mince pies over the festive period and my kayak sits a little lower in the water than it did in 2012.

“Initially I am focusing on getting super fit both on and off the water, once back to my racing weight I can start to focus on my white water training and get on the courses as much as possible."

He continued: “The Olympics is the ultimate competition in my sport and is the event that all kayakers want to qualify for, but places are so tight you really have to be on the top of your game.

“Between now and the qualifiers I am going to have to give it my all and train like I have never trained before.

“I will have to be out training on the river every day and getting out on the white water as much as I can.

“I sometimes think that I picked the wrong sport, considering I live in Warrington where there is no white water!”