Lizzie Neave returned to form at the weekend by claiming a bronze medal at the ICF World Cup Two event in Pau, France.

The Highams Park competitor continued her preparations for the Canoe Slalom at London 2012 by finishing third in the K1 category.

It was her first medal of the year as she built on a strong semi-final display to go even faster and take her place on the podium.

Neave qualified for the final in seventh place and paddled with style to improve her time by three seconds and take an early lead.

She faced a nervous wait to see how her efforts would compare to those who went after her, but only Spain’s Maialen Chourrant and Carole Bouzidi from France were quicker, meaning Neave was able to claim bronze.

And the Newcastle-under-Lyme-born competitor was thrilled with her success.

She explained: “I am really happy, especially after last weekend in Cardiff where I didn’t have a great time. I’m really pleased to have built through the competition and put in a good run when it counted.

“I felt much more in control this weekend, it’s been a tough course and all the top boats are here, so it fills me with confidence for the rest of the season. It’s great to get back on the podium as it has been a while.”

Paul Ratcliffe, K1 women’s coach added: “It’s a cracking result for Lizzie, it’s been important for us to stay patient over the last few races, as we have been working on her race plan step by step to London.”

In the men’s canoe double (C2) event, Loughton duo David Florence and Richard Hounslow were unable to repeat their Cardiff success as they missed out on a place in the final.

The pair were hindered by some costly time errors as well as accruing four seconds of penalties, leaving them with a 14th place finish.

Florence also missed out in solo action as he went in the C1 class.

He produced an excellent run but was caught out by gate 21, squeezing only half of his head through the marker to hand him a 50 second penalty, leaving him down in 25th position and outside the top ten.

He explained: “I didn’t get my whole head through gate 21 so ended up with a 50 second penalty. It’s disappointing, my time was good enough for the final, but sometimes it just doesn’t go your way.”

Hounslow also suffered disappointment on his men’s K1 outing.

He faced difficulties in the latter stages of the course which led to penalties and the loss of time to finish in 23rd.

The British team will now move on to the World Cup Three meet in La Seu d’Urgell, Spain, this weekend.