Fox is poles apart with gold medal spree ahead of Games
Australia’s Jessica Fox won three gold medals at the Canoe Slalom World Cup in Krakow, Poland, to take her World Cup gold medal tally past 50 in a perfect warm-up for next month’s Olympic Games.
Jessica at the Olympic course in Paris
Fox, a Tokyo 2020 Olympic champion, won the gold medal in the women’s K1 kayak final on Friday, clocking 93.49 seconds. France’s Maialen Chourraut (94.24) finished second and Ria Sribar (99.03) of the United States settled for bronze.
The Australian ace followed up with another top podium finish in the women’s C1 canoe final on Saturday. Despite recording a two-second penalty, Fox (100.71) finished first in the final ahead of Brazil’s Ana Satila (105.99) and Martina Satkova (110.35) of Czechia.
On Sunday, the four-time Olympic medallist clinched a third gold medal after winning the women’s kayak cross final. Czechia’s Tereza Kneblova won silver while Kimberley Woods of Great Britain finished third.
With her triple success in Krakow, Fox now has 51 gold medals at Canoe Slalom World Cups. It was also the ninth time that Fox clinched gold in both the K1 kayak and C1 canoe events at the same World Cup event.
Having secured her seventh World Cup gold in the last six weeks, Fox is well prepared for the Paris 2024 Olympics where she will take part in the women’s K1 and C1 events. She will be the defending champion in the women’s C1 canoe event, having clocked 105.04 to win gold at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
Fox said: “Winning the double at a World Cup is always really special and to realise I’ve done it nine times now is amazing. I think I’ll have to really try and get a 10th to make it sound even better. It’s been a fantastic start to the season and we’ll continue building now for Paris.”
Fox has won one gold, one silver and two bronze medals in the Olympics to date and will be competing in her fourth Games in Paris. The canoe events get underway from July 27.
AAP
