FRINTON'S Ottilie Robinson-Shaw struck gold at the Freestyle Kayak World Championships.

The 16-year-old was crowned female junior champion at the International Canoe Federation (ICF) event.

In the process, she helped Great Britain knock America off the top of the medal table in San Juan, Argentina.

"It's difficult to describe the feeling and the announcement of the final results was a surreal moment," said Robinson-Shaw.

"The closing ceremony was a joy.

"I was on the podium with a gold medal flanked by two highly-respected American freestyle kayakers. I couldn't stop smiling.

"To have the opportunity to mix with different cultures and kayak and compete with them was amazing.

"My goal was to win the title and there wasn't one minute out of school that I didn't dedicate towards this result, with non-stop training both mentally and physically."

Robinson-Shaw surprised everyone by making a last-minute decision to borrow a 'squirt' boat and compete with the seniors.

She managed to get to the semi-finals with no other juniors competing.

This gave her a taste of the actual competition and allowed her to get used to the routine at the competition site.

Freestyle prelims went well with a silver and she also secured a silver in her semi-final.

On finals day, she had three runs with the highest score counting.

"I'd been at the top of the leaderboard for the whole final but didn't have the final ride in the heat and knew it was down to the performance of the final contestant - the current world champion," she said.

"It was a nervous few minutes as we waited to hear the results."

Robinson-Shaw had an eventful journey to Argentina.

Her plane returned back to Heathrow for an emergency landing, with the pilot dumping fuel and emergency services on the runway.

Twenty-four hours later, they started again and arrived in Chile to travel across the Andes to Argentina.

The border had been closed for a couple of days due to snow.

"On arrival in San Juan I volunteered with the other GB juniors to visit local schools in the area and encourage kayaking," said Robinson-Shaw.

"One school was a private school mad on sports who are visiting London next year and we will host an evening for them at Lee Valley Olympic Whitewater Centre.

"Training was easy and enjoyable during the first week but as time went by more kayakers turned up and the water was incredibly busy.

"By the third week, team training was designated for one hour a day to each country which amounted to three minutes each for the Brits.

"The only solution was late evening and middle of the night training on the water but pitch black kayaking did not stop me training.

"The opening ceremony was a fabulous event.

"The Argentinians are friendly, full of fun and dance.

"It was wonderful to walk the town with the GB team.

"After the vibrant parade there was a huge circle where people - and kayakers - were tossed high up into the air by cheerleaders."

Team GB won the medal count, bringing home three golds, two silvers and two bronzes.