Redemption for Australian canoeist Jessica Fox, who stunningly secured her second World Cup win after missing out on the kayak
- Fox won gold in the women’s canoe at the Tokyo Olympics
- Has now won two gold medals at the World Championships
- Comes after missing the final in the kayaking event
Jessica Fox earned her second World Cup victory in less than a week at the ICF Canoe Slalom World Cup in Prague.
Fox earned a gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics in the women’s C1 canoe slalom event on the Kasai Canoe Slalom Center course, defeating reigning Olympic champion Maialen Chourraut of Spain and Germany’s Andrea Herzog.
Now she’s backed that up with another World Cup gold.
The Australian was the fastest qualifier in the women’s kayak on Thursday and confirmed that form by also finishing first in Friday’s semi-final.
Then, in a performance that mimicked her 6.51s victory in the women’s canoe final last week in Augsburg, Fox put on an almost flawless run in the final [98.95s] to claim the gold by a margin of 4.63 seconds over Germany’s Ricarda Funk.
Fox claims her second gold medal in the final race of the Women’s Water Slalom World Cup K1 in Prague, Czech Republic
Fox shows off the Olympic gold medal she won in Tokyo. She has now backed that up with two gold medals at the World Cup
Fox puts on the hard yards during Canoe Slalom International Training Week at Lee Valley White Water Center on May 24 in London
Great Britain’s Mallory Franklin was more than a second further back in third.
It was a redemptive result for Fox, who missed a chance at the kayak podium last week after missing a gate in the semifinals.
“It was very special,” Fox said.
“I love racing in Prague, the atmosphere is like nowhere else and I felt really good this week.
“I won the heats, I won the semis, so I thought to go out and put in a run to be proud of, to try and attack it, and it worked out pretty well. I really challenged myself to push the boundaries.
“I thought I could go under 100. There are so many moves on that track that are really tricky, and a lot of things had to go according to plan to get under 100.
“Last week I was really frustrated that I didn’t make it to the final after a stupid mistake, so I really wanted to paddle well.”
Lucien Delfour qualified for the men’s kayak final for the second time in as many weeks, finishing eighth.
Earlier in the day, Jessica (6th) and Noemie Fox (25th) both qualified for the women’s canoe semifinals.
Brodie Crawford (20th) will line up for the men’s canoe semi-final, but Kaylen Bassett (32nd) and Tristan Carter (40th) couldn’t advance due to the heat.