Ben Fouhy has won his battle to go solo and will now represent New Zealand at next month's kayaking world championships in Poland.
The 2004 world champion quit the sport in March, blaming a breakdown in his relationship with national coach Ian Ferguson.
But he has reversed his decision after he getting the go-ahead to train outside Canoe Racing New Zealand's (CRNZ) high performance umbrella and is now in the United States for the first stage of his preparations for the world championships.
Fouhy, 30, who won a silver medal at the 2004 Athens Olympics, said in a statement today he changed his mind when it was made clear that a more individually-tailored plan was possible.
"Given the circumstances, we have realistic expectations around this year's world championships and whatever the result we know we can improve on it moving forward," Fouhy said.
"(London Olympics) 2012 is the ultimate target. Ideally we want to be able to look back and know we gave it our best and delivered a set of results to be proud of."
CRNZ chief executive Paula Kearns said everyone in her organisation was pleased to see Fouhy back.
"We've spoken to all our athletes and coaches and . . . everybody's supportive of Ben returning," she told NZPA.
"We have agreed that Ben will train outside of our domestic high performance programme in an arrangement that will prepare him for his best shot at winning a medal at the 2012 Olympic Games."
The plan to get Fouhy back into his boat had been developed in consultation with Sport and Recreation New Zealand (Sparc) and the newly formed New Zealand Federation of Athletes.
"There have been more than exceptional circumstances there and we believe a talented athlete like Ben, we want to keep him in the sport, that's what's good for the sport so we need to be flexible to accommodate him," Kearns said.
Under the "athlete-led programme" that had been approved by Sparc, Fouhy will have his own separate training programme and budget.
Fouhy's funding, provided by Sparc, would come through CRNZ.
Asked how the national team selection process would be affected with two separate training programmes, Kearns said: "At this stage, the selection criteria for 2011 onwards hasn't been written or developed.
"Obviously some flexibility is necessary, too, with overseas-based and NZ-based athletes but we need to write that into the criteria to accommodate everyone."
Sparc high performance general manager Martin Toomey said New Zealand wanted to see its best athletes performing on the world stage.
"So it is great to see Ben back in his boat for the 2010 world championships and focused on delivering success for New Zealand in 2012.
"Sparc has provided a supporting role in this process but Canoe Racing New Zealand, Ben and his support team deserve credit for resolving various issues.
"The reason we've reached this agreement is that Canoe Racing New Zealand and Sparc believe Ben has the track record and the talent to continue to be successful."
Fouhy left yesterday for the United States where he is to train in San Diego before heading to Belgium for more preparation ahead of the world championships at Poznan on August 19-22.
