Kayakers Alyssa Bull and Alyce Burnett book Rio tickets at expense of idol

HAVING a hero is part of sport. Having to beat them is another thing altogether. This was the dilemma facing kayaking duo Alyssa Bull and Alyce Burnett.

****CHECK WITH BRIS SPORT DESK BEFORE RUNNING****Australia has announced it's Olympic kayak team for Rio. Alyssa Bull and Alyce Burnett are off to Brazil. Pic by Luke Marsden.

HAVING a hero is part of sport. Having to beat them is another thing altogether.

Sunshine Coast kayakers Alyssa Bull and Alyce Burnett had no choice. To earn a surprise ticket to their first Olympics in Rio, the duo had to twice beat their inspiration, former surf star turned London Oympian Noami Flood, and her seasoned partner Jo Brigden-Jones in the K2-500 trials.

“Floody has been my sporting idol since I was little, especially with her surf background before she jumped across to kayaks,’’ Bull said.

Alyssa Bull and Alyce Burnett beat idol Noami Flood the K2-500. Picture: Luke Marsden.

“I got up early one morning and watched her at the London Olympics and was the first time I realised what a kayak was. I took it up the next year.’’

Burnett has watched the Australian swimming titles and the sight of young swimmers steeling themselves to take on their heroes took her back to her feelings before the races in which they beat their own.

“You could just see the young guys have had to jump on the blocks and be like we were and pretend to ignore (the stature) of those people they have idolised.

“It is a hard ask to your head around lining up on the starting line next to people you have looked up for your whole sporting career. It is hard to know only one crew can win and you have to beat them.

“Going through the nipper ranks even, we were looking up to Floody. We were definitely the underdogs. Not a lot of people saw this coming,’’

When the Australian kayak team was presented to the media on the Gold Coast, Bull and Burnett looked the most excited people in room, excited as chirpy schoolkids waiting for the bus for their first big excursion.

Alyssa Bull and Alyce Burnett in action. Picture: Tom Collings

There was no Olympic swagger about the duo who are trying to bottle their bubbly disposition and uncork it in Rio, where it will be a stark contrast to some of their stone-faced European rivals.

“We are different from everyone in that we are really lighthearted,’’ said Burnett, who has a media and public relations company.

“We don’t shut up. A lot of our opponents are very serious. They have earphones in before the race.

“We have fun until we hop in the water. You see a lot of occasions when people go to the Olympics, they either crumble from the pressure or they thrive, and I am hoping our tactic works.

“You only live once. The fact that we are best friends helps us. We go to training and we enjoy it even if it's a crappy session and you are scratching your eyeballs out the whole time.

“That's why we do it. We have other things. It is not our whole being.’’

Post-Games, Bull wants to be a training officer for the fire brigade.

She did not get in her first attempt but her sporting life has taught here that if you want something badly enough you can sometimes beat the odds.