WHEN asked if she had set any personal goals for her Olympic debut, Katie Reid’s reply was a simple one.

“You’ve got to be in it to win it, don’t you? I’m in it!”

But, regardless of whether she comes back with a medal, the 26-year-old hopes that a journey which saw her take up a new sport seven years ago, which has led her to Tokyo, can inspire a new generation of sprint canoe stars across the UK.

Katie, a former Queen Anne High School pupil who is originally from Cairneyhill, earned a late call for Team GB and, next week, will become the first female in the C1 canoe sprint paddle to represent them at the Olympics.

The event is making its debut at the Games and, for the Nottingham-based star, it comes after she swapped the Dojo for the water.

An accomplished Scottish karate champion, Katie applied for the ‘Girls4Gold’ initiative, set up through UK Sport and the English Institute of Sport, which aimed to uncover talented, female athletes with the ultimate aim of representing Team GB at an Olympics.

That was in 2014 and now, having finished third in the European Olympic qualifier this year, and winning bronze at the 2018 World Cup, she is set to be a trailblazer for her sport on the Sea Forest Waterway in the 200 metres, which begins on Wednesday.

Speaking to Press Sport before jetting to Japan, Katie explained: “It would be amazing to inspire someone to pick it up and give it a go. In 2014 I applied for the girls for gold campaign, a talent transfer campaign, which was run by UK Sport. I was like well, we’ll give this a go – I don’t know where it’ll take me, but I just want to push myself and see where my limits are. I went along to all the selection days and now I’m here!

“I had no idea about the sport but this is what I’m saying; not many people know about canoeing. When people say canoeing, you either think you’re rowing a boat, or you’re doing slalom. They don’t really know about sprint, and I was the same. That’s why I think it’s so important that we go out there, show everyone what we do and that it is a fantastic sport.

“That’s a big part of it for me, to inspire other people. It would be great to bring that awareness to the sport and get more people involved – that would be amazing.”

Taking part in the programme saw Katie relocate south to where British Canoeing’s headquarters are based, but she admitted she wasn’t sure whether it would lead to a place at the Olympics.

“The goal of the campaign was to get someone into Tokyo 2020 because it’s the first year that women’s canoeing is going to be in there,” she continued.

“That was a goal when we all started, but I think when we got in the boat we thought, oh my goodness, this is a long shot!

“There were 15 of us and we put so much hard work in, the coaches, everyone around us, so to actually round it off with someone going, I feel very proud. I feel it’s for them as well. We do it together and it’s as much their spot as it is mine.

“You couldn’t do this without your team."

With her place in the squad only confirmed on July 8, Katie said the initial reaction of family and friends was one of shock, and she says she’s looking upon the competition as a “bonus”.

“The ones who have been alongside me the whole way know what a journey it’s been,” she said. “Obviously not making it back in May, they went through that with me, the disappointment I guess.

“To give them that news was something special. My parents were definitely shocked – they probably thought I was joking because it’s such late notice!

“It’s amazing for them. It’s what you dream of when you’re a kid. I think sometimes as well you lose perspective when you’re in training every day; you kind of forget how amazing it actually is that you’re doing something you love, something you’ve dreamed of doing. Then you take a step back and you think, wow, all that hard work’s paying off.

“It just shows if you put your mind to it, surround yourself with good people and believe in yourself you can do what you dream of doing.

“I just want to go out there and enjoy it. It does feel like a bonus for me because, like I said, I wasn’t going, but now I am. I just want to go out there and have fun and do what I do every day really. I guess the result will take care of itself.”