Team GB's Mallory Franklin has a chance to make history on Thursday as she lines up on the start line of the women's canoe Olympic semi-final. 

Tokyo 2021 is the first year the event is available to female contestants as the games moves towards gender parity, meaning Franklin could become the first ever Olympic champion in the women's canoe slalom single. 

It's so far been a successful Olympics for Team GB, with numerous gold, silver and bronze medals across the board. 

As Franklin prepares to try and add another medal to the tally, here's everything you need to know about the canoer.

Who is Mallory Franklin?

Mallory Franklin proved dominant in the heats of the women's canoe slalom on Wednesday, winning both the first and second run. 

It means she progresses to the semi finals on Wednesday morning with two good performances under her belt, which she will aim to replicate in the semi and then hopefully the final. 

First picking up the sport in 2012, the 27-year-old is now GB's most successful female slalom paddler, having won 8 international competitions in 2018. 

As the 2017 world champion, Windsor-born Franklin certainly knows what it takes to perform on the world stage and will undoubtedly be using this experience as she enters her first Olympic semi final. 

The semi final for the women's canoe slalom single will take place at 6:00am UK time, before the final at 7:55am. 

How does canoe slalom work?

In canoe slalom, athletes must navigate a course featuring numerous upstream and downstream gates on white-water. 

Time penalties of two seconds are given if a canoer touches a gate with either their paddle or body. 

Meanwhile, if an athlete misses a gate completely, they will suffer a fifty second penalty. 

These penalties are added on to the overall time it takes an athlete to complete the course. 

The person with the fastest time is the winner. 

The course is around 250m long and will contain between 18-25 gates. 

In the canoe slalom, competitors have one oar with which to navigate the course.