CANOE/KAYAK - SLALOM: Olympic silver medallist Jessica Fox has taken her blistering form to Bratislava. The slalom specialist produced the goods in Slovakia to take out the C1 overall World Cup crown and finish second in the K1 standings. Here is how the action unfolded...

Fox claims ICF C1 World Cup crown   

Jessica Fox has continued her stellar 2013 World Cup series winning gold in the C1W final in Bratislava, Slovakia.

Since finishing second behind British teenager Kimberley Woods at the first World Cup in Cardiff, today’s victory marks her fourth consecutive C1W World Cup victory in a row.

“I am so happy, it has been a great world cup season for me in C1. I am really happy to finish C1 with four wins and a silver”, said Fox.

Fox was pipped by fellow Australian Rosalyn Lawrence in the heat and semifinal before showing her class in the final to win in 119.59, more than 11 seconds ahead of her nearest rival, Czech paddler Katerina Hoskova.

Little known British canoeist Jasmine Royle finished third, while Lawrence had to settle for sixth after a 50 second penalty for a missed gate on the lower section of the course ended her pursuit of a podium berth.

Fox believes the course was a lot more challenging than on Friday with the gate combination at six, seven and eight and the drop-off on the lower section of the course splitting the field.

“I just wanted to make sure I went clean through all the gates and kept the boat running the whole way down the course.”

It was just a week ago when Fox created history in Slovenia, becoming the first female to win the C1 and K1 events at the same World Cup, and going by her current form she is well on the way to achieving that same feat tomorrow when she chases victory in the K1.

Fox believes that her performance in Tacen was the best of her World Cup season, “I would say my double victory in Tacen last weekend was definitely a highlight and a big milestone for me in K1 as well as C1.”

In other results on Saturday NSWIS canoeist Ian Borrows produced a career best result finishing 11th in the C1M semifinal.

The 23 year old appeared to have secured a maiden finals berth, however a successful appeal from another competitor pushed the Penrith Valley canoeist out of the top ten.

Ascot kayaker Robin Jeffery also contested the C1M semifinal finishing 20th.

The C1M final was eventually won by canoeing legend Michal Martikan on his home course ahead of British paddler David Florence and another Slovakian Matej Benus.
In a family affair for the Borrows’, Ian’s younger sibling Alison finished 17th behind Fox in the C1W event.

Lucien Delfour headed into the final World Cup sitting pretty at number five on the ICF K1M World Cup rankings.

The 24 year old will however be slightly disappointed to miss a finals berth after finishing 20th in the semifinal.

Delfour got off to a solid start to only trail by 1.13 seconds at the first split, but a mistake on the lower section of the course proved costly.

Returning from a long injury lay off, Forsythe will be pleased with the way he returned in his first international competition of the year.

The 27 year old finished one spot lower than Delfour in 21st, but can only get better as he gets more racing in the arms.

U23 kayaker Jaxon Merritt also contested the semifinal finishing 37th.

Day Two: Fox second in K1 World Cup Standings

The 2013 ICF canoe slalom World Cup season has come to a close after an exciting final day of racing on a very difficult course in Bratislava, Slovakia.

The 23 gate course produced racing of the highest level with Olympic gold medallist Emilie Fer posting a phenomenal run in the K1W final.

The Frenchwoman won the K1 title in 106.54, 3.25 seconds ahead of Slovakian Jana Dukatova, with German Jasmin Schornberg taking home the bronze 0.87 seconds further back.

Unfortunately the final day did not go to plan for Fox, with the talented 19 year old finishing ninth behind Fer in the final after a string of penalties all but ended her a chance for back to back gold medals.

Fox’s ninth place finish provided local star and world number one Jana Dukatova the opening to overtake Fox and claim the ICF K1W World Cup series title on 211 points, five ahead of Fox, with Schornberg jumping Slovenia’s Eva Tercelj into third.

Fellow Australian Sarah Grant of Melbourne produced her best result of the season finishing just ahead of Fox in seventh, moving her up to ninth in the ICF World Cup standings.

Earlier Old Bonalbo’s Rosalyn Lawrence was unlucky not to reach the K1W final, missing out by just 0.01 seconds.

Since winning silver behind Fer at the 2012 Olympic Games Fox has never looked back, and will leave the World Cup series as the overall winner of the C1W after collecting four gold medals and a silver in the non-Olympic discipline.

Despite slipping to second in the K1 overall standings, Fox will be pleased with her efforts, particularly her performance in Tacen, Slovenia a week ago when she became the first female athlete to win both the K1 and C1 events at the same World Cup.

The Australian Team will now take a short break before turning their attentions to the biggest event of the year, the ICF World Championships which will be held in Prague, Czech Republic from 11-15 September.

Australian Canoeing