TYLDESLEY Olympic hero Paul Ratcliffe's first reaction after winning a super silver medal in Sydney was simple.

He said: "I came here to get gold so my first reaction is that I'm gutted."

The local lad who developed his talent for canoeing at Moses Gate's Crompton Lodges, took the silver in the men's K1 canoe/kayak slalom today.

The 27-year-old, who had started his final run in the bronze medal slot, finished well behind Germany's Thomas Schmidt.

It was only Britain's second ever canoeing medal in the Olympics - following the silver won by Gareth Marriott in Barcelona in 1992 - and only the seventh medal for Britain at the Sydney Games.

Ratcliffe picked up four seconds in penalties in his two runs at the Penrith Whitewater Stadium.

But a late penalty for rival Pierpaolo Ferrazi, of Italy, promoted Ratcliffe into second spot behind the German, who produced two flawless runs.

Schmidt's total points were 217.25 with Ratcliffe on 223.71 just ahead of Ferrazi, who finished in 225.03.

Ratcliffe, the world number one this year, was one of Britain's best gold medal prospects at the Games.

But, as in last year's World Championships in Spain, the graduate of Nottingham University paid the price for hitting one of the slalom gates on each of his runs.

Ratcliffe's immediate response to his silver medal was one of disappointment at not being able to claim Britain's second gold of the day.

Ratcliffe, who hit a gate on the first run and capsized at the bottom of the run, added: "It wasn't the best day at the office for me but it was great to pull off a silver after that kind of first run.

"After I had that touch early on I knew I had a lot to do. I caught an edge near the bottom of the course and I didn't have enough power to stay upright because I had done so much work on the course.

"I suppose it's good to have turned a bronze into silver though."