Fox rallies for eighth canoe world title
Australian Olympic gold medallist Jessica Fox has rescued a disappointing canoe slalom world championships by taking out the extreme slalom event.
Jess Fox and her winner’s medal Phot: Facebook
Australian slalom canoe ace Jessica Fox has salvaged her disappointing world championships with a gold medal in the new extreme event.
The Tokyo gold medallist took out the extreme slalom, which will make its Games debut in Paris, after failing to make the C1 and K1 finals for the first time in her career.
But Fox took out her eighth world title in the extreme, only the third time she has contested the event.
“It wasn’t my weekend this weekend in either the kayak or the canoe, so I just wanted to have fun in the extreme and it felt great to be out there,” Fox said.
“It was exhausting, mentally as well, because I had good runs and it just comes down to centimetres and a tiny bit of precision, and it’s a huge penalty and you’re out.”
The worlds in Bratislava, Slovakia, were Fox’s last races of a busy season.
After an agonising near-miss in the K1 final at the Tokyo Games, Fox snared an elusive Olympic gold medal two days later in the C1 class.
Fox also won the K1 world cup title earlier this month and was second in the C1.
“I’ve had an amazing season, and this is a great way to finish,” Fox said.
Extreme is a combination of all canoe slalom’s disciplines and involves four competitors sliding off a ramp two metres into the water at the start.
AAP
