Peerless Pembury rower Emily Craig delivered her latest statement of intent with a dominant World Championship success in Belgrade.

Craig and Imogen Grant have not been beaten since missing the Olympic podium by a whisker two summers ago and kept that record intact with a comfortable lightweight women’s double sculls success.

The British pair led from start to finish to defend their crown and the target on their backs is only growing ahead of their attempt to banish those Tokyo demons at Paris 2024.

“The photo finish from Tokyo is printed off and on my living room wall,” Craig said. “It's not a negative anymore, it's a look how close we were in incredibly trying circumstances.

“We're now at the point where we've had two exceptional seasons together and a wealth of experience that those six minutes 50 seconds in Tokyo in 2021 pale into insignificance compared to what we’ve done since.

“It was a long race, and it's an honour and a privilege to race against such a high-qualified field.

“The changes in that Final compared to the World Cup events and European Championships really showed the work they have put in, and the work we had to put in to cross that line first. That's not going to change next season.”

Craig and Grant were among seven British combinations to secure Olympic quota places for their boats in the Serbian capital and did so in style.

Perhaps ominously for the chasing pack, they will have even more time to hone their craft leading into next summer’s showpiece with Grant having completed her medicine degree at Cambridge University in June - though neither will be resting on their laurels.

“I'm so excited going into Paris,” Grant added. “Next year, we’ll both be full-time together and I'm so excited to see what that brings.

“World champion is a nice thing to put after your name for sure, but you're only as good as your last race and the one you're racing at the time.

“The lightweight double is such a fierce event and you're the top lightweights for every nation battling it out every time. It's just a privilege to be racing against such amazing women.”

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