BEING stopped halfway through one of the biggest races of your life would unsettle even the most seasoned professional, but not 18-year-old canoe slalom star Nikita Setchell.

The Nottingham athlete showed huge composure as she shrugged off the setback to become European K1W Junior Champion at the Canoe Slalom Junior and U23 European Championships.

Setchell, who lives in Edwalton and trains at Holme Pierrepont Canoe Club, only scrapped through to the final in tenth place after hitting three gates during her semi-final run in Bratislava.

And it looked like it wasn’t going to be her day when, going first off in the final, her race was halted due to a missing pole at gate 13 as she was eventually flagged down by officials at gate 17.

But Setchell, who had already won bronze in the K1W Junior Team final, returned 20 minutes later and delivered a gold medal-winning performance to finish three seconds ahead of her nearest challenger - not that she ever doubted herself.

“I had the second fastest time in the semi-finals but because I hit three gates and I got time penalties which meant I only scrapped through in tenth,” she explained.

“I felt confident going into the final because I knew I was fast enough, I just had to get it right, but I was happy enough just to get to the final in the first place.

“The pressure was off a little bit, but I still wanted to do my best and perform. I was more nervous on the first run in the final.

“It was an error from the officials that the pole wasn’t there as they didn’t get it in place in time, it was around gate 13 where the problem was, and I got stopped at gate 17.

“The officials had been shouting at me on the way down after I started but I didn’t hear them as I was in the zone - I did notice that there was a pole missing though.

“That run didn’t go to plan completely so I was quite happy to get another shot at it, but it was only 20 minutes later, so I had to get myself together again quickly.

“It was a different mentality as I was due to be first off in the final and in the end, I was last because of the issue and I definitely felt tired when I was going down again but the adrenaline kicks in.

“There was no leaderboard when I got to the bottom and I didn’t know where I’d finished at first, but then everyone was screaming and started jumping in the water celebrating.”

Setchell, who is currently ranked sixth in the UK, admitted victory was all the sweeter as she initially only made the GB team as a reserve, having finished fourth at selection earlier this year.

“I was really emotional, and it means absolutely everything to me as I just missed out on making the team and ended up going as a reserve, so it showed I was good enough,” she said.

“It makes everything I’ve gone through this year worthwhile. I have four more races left until the end of the season, so I’m just focused on making sure I’m in the top ten in the UK.”

Setchell’s cause is also being helped by The Nottingham Building Society, who are teaming up with charity SportsAid to support 50 local athletes as they try to find their ‘time to shine’, with each receiving £750 of funding.

Having already donated £240,000 to SportsAid to help athletes buy equipment, travel to events and receive the training they need to be the best they can, The Nottingham Building Society are now also helping athletes on the path to the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and Paralympics, and beyond.

And Setchell said the support she receives from The Nottingham Building Society takes the stress away from worrying about some of the distractions outside of competing.

“The support from really helps, we have to pay part of our way to go out to competitions,” said Setchell, who recently finished Sixth Form at Rushcliffe School.

“It helps pay for our training and accommodation, hotels and travel, it just means it can help out a lot with equipment.

“We have to have two boats, a training boat and a competition boat, so the funding I get really helps with that and it takes the stress away.”

Nottingham Building Society and Harrison Murray teamed up with SportsAid in 2013 to help future sports stars get their time to shine. Visit thenottingham.com to find out more.