Ken Wallace earns a place at 2016 Rio Olympics as part of the K4 1000 team

Eight years after he won a gold and bronze at the Beijing Olympic, kayak king Ken Wallace is heading back into Olympic waters.

Ken Wallace K1 500 and K1 5000 winner. Pic courtesy of Balint Vekassy (ICF).

EIGHT years after he won a gold and bronze at the Beijing Olympic, kayak king Ken Wallace is heading back into Olympic waters.

Wallace, young gun Lachlan Tame, Murray Stewart and Jacob Clear are set to claim an Australian team tracksuit after winning the K4 1000 at the Australian sprint championships in Perth on Wednesday.

“It’s a big, big relief to have that done,’’ Wallace said after the victory, which when ratified by the Australian Olympic Committee, will book the four a spot at the Rio Olympics.

Ken Wallace will represent Australia as part of the K4 1000 team at Rio. Pic: Balint Vekassy (ICF).

“This is the race that mattered. This was the race we needed to get it done in.

“To go to a third Olympics will be great. But I’m still a long way off Clint Robinson’s record of five.’’

Wallace, who just missed a medal at the London Olympics, is hopeful he and Olympic rookie Tame from Avoca will get to race both the K4 and K2 events in Rio with combinations in both boats still to be confirmed.

“I went to the toilet five teams and I spewed up just before the race, but I didn’t tell these guys that,” Tame said.

“I had to walk down to Kenny before the race and tell him to keep talking, don’t let my mind wander.

“I’m stoked, to be with three great paddlers, and to be part of a great massive team with all the young blokes.”

Ken Wallace (front) and Lachlan Tame in action in the K2 1000m at the opening canoe sprint grand prix in Adelaide. Pic: Sportscene

Stewart and Clear are the only two survivors of the K4 boat which won gold at the London Games.

Like Wallace, Clear is also set to compete at his third successive Olympics.

“I suppose there’s been a lot of tension in there for the last week or two, but it’s good to do that one and to be able to concentrate on the rest of our races knowing we’ve got that foot in the door,” he said.

“It’s a dream to get to one Olympics, but to get to three is another thing.”

Originally published as Ken Wallace earns a place at 2016 Rio Olympics as part of the K4 1000 team