KATHERINE Copeland’s last two Olympic races read: won lightweight double sculls gold in London and finished dead last in her heat in Rio.

As Olympic title defences go, Copeland’s couldn’t have started much worse as she returned to action in the shadow of the famous five rings in Rio on Monday.

With her London 2012 gold medal-winning teammate Sophie Hosking now retired, Copeland was lining up alongside Charlotte Taylor for the opening heat in Brazil.

The pair won European gold and world silver last year but found the going tough on the Olympic stage as they finished their heat last.

All is not lost for Copeland as she and Taylor will now contend Tuesday’s repechages in hope of qualifying for Wednesday’s semi-finals.

But their time of 7:10.25 minutes was the fourth worst from 20 boats, with just the minnow rowing nations of Tunisia, Vietnam and Hong Kong posting slower times.

It’s a far cry from the last time Copeland, from Stokesley, competed with the Olympic rings emblazoned on her chest, and the 25-year-old admits there is work to be done.

“We need to get recovered as much as we can and I think our training bodes well for that,” a distraught Copeland said.

“We have got a lot of fitness so I think we can recover really well for the repechage and the next days.

“We need to be really clear as to where our speed comes from and come out and draw a line under this.”

Double Olympic gold medallist, James Cracknell, said: "Finishing fifth makes it very, very tough.

"If they haven't been able to put changes into place on the training ground over two months they can't do it over two days before the repechage.

"It's harsh but the truth. If you are not on your game at the Olympics you are going to be in trouble."

There was better news for Jess Eddie and Zoe Lee in the women’s eight as they helped Great Britain to a comfortable victory in their heat, crossing the line in 6:09.52 minutes to go straight through to Saturday’s final.

It proved to be a double celebration for Lee as her Olympic debut arrived on the same day that she found out she had passed her PhD in geography from King’s College London.

And Will Fletcher teamed up with Richard Chambers in the men’s lightweight double scull and finished their heat second to advance to the semi-finals.

The pair came home in 6:25.62 minutes – behind South Africa – to post the sixth-fastest heat time ahead of returning to action on Tuesday.

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