Now he just needs to find his best form to chase a place on the podium.
Butcher, 29, made his Olympic debut in the K1 slalom with an outstanding first-up run at the Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium yesterday.
He was fourth after that run, and while his second run was a little scratchy, he has qualified seventh for the semifinal tomorrow morning (NZ time).
"The first one was good — pretty much what we planned to do," Butcher told Sky Sport as he reflected on his first appearance at the Olympics after being a reserve in Tokyo three years ago.
"It was awesome to be out there for my first Games and sort of break the ice.
"The second run, I just lost a little bit in the middle, trying to do a few different things. But it’s all good. The first run was enough to qualify, so sweet as."
Butcher’s first run was strong and smooth.
He guided the black boat up and around the course, never looked flustered, and raced across the line with a penalty-free run and a score of 86.35.
Knowing that was almost certainly good enough to get him through to the semifinal, he could afford to relax and take a couple of punts in his second run.
While his pace was initially good, he copped a 50sec penalty for missing gate 11 and two 2sec penalties for clipping gates 10 and 17, and finished with a score of 142.08.
There are 20 in the semifinal, and as the seventh-fastest qualifier, Butcher will be the 14th paddler to ride the waves.
The 12 fastest men qualify for the final, scheduled for 3.30am tomorrow.
Frenchman Titouan Castryck, a 19-year-old double junior world champion, will have plenty of the crowd behind him as the top qualifier.
Tokyo 2021 gold medallist Jiri Prskavec (Czech Republic) qualified second, Giovanni de Gennaro (Italy) qualified second and Rio 2016 gold medallist Joe Clarke went through fourth.
Butcher is confident he can acquit himself well in the semifinal.
"I think not trying to hunt for anything extra is probably my key.
"If I can keep paddling the way I am, and do my runs, it puts me in a pretty good spot.
"The course gets more technical so there are a few more things to think about."
Butcher enjoyed getting plenty of support from family and New Zealand team members in the stands.
"It’s pretty epic. I’ve never had a crowd like that.
"I’m stoked. It’s awesome to race in front of these guys."
After his canoe slalom efforts, Butcher will switch into kayak cross mode. That discipline starts on Saturday with finals scheduled for Tuesday.
