CANOE/KAYAK: Jessica Fox has made it back to back C1W world titles, taking gold on day three of the ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships in Deep Creek, USA.
The 20 year old demonstrated why she holds the number one world ranking by recording an emphatic victory.
Despite receiving four seconds in penalties for two gate touches Fox’s time of 132.85 saw her finish 5.93 seconds ahead of British paddler Mallory Franklin.
“I am very happy, I am exhausted, it was a really tough battle out there, I fought the whole way down and to cross the line in first despite a few errors I am so happy,” Fox said.
Fox put in a lot more effort in the final improving on her semifinal run by seven seconds.
“I charged it down from the top section and didn’t stop till the finish because I had a couple of penalties so I had to keep pushing it down and I think it was fast overall even though it didn’t feel as smooth in some places.”
“It goes to show that even when it doesn’t feel good you have to keep going and finish it off.”
The win for Fox also marks 25 years since her parents tasted success in the USA.
“It is very special. For them it was 25 years ago so I think it is nice for them to be back here and to see some of the familiar faces they use to race against and for me a world championship is very special and to win it in America is pretty cool,” Fox said.
Fox will now switch her focus the K1W semifinal on Sunday.
Asked if she can complete the double she responded, “We will have to wait and see. I am definitely going to go out there and try and make the final tomorrow. My goal is to put down a good run and hopefully make the top ten.”
Fellow Australian Rosalyn Lawrence also featured in the final finishing fifth. Earlier Penrith Valley canoeist Alison Borrows finished 16th in the semifinals.
In what was a great day of racing for the Australian team Lucien Delfour executed a clean run down the 24 gate course to finish fifth in the K1M final.
Delfour entered the final full of confidence after winning his semifinal on Friday.
Unfortunately he was unable to improve on his semifinal run finishing 3.36 seconds behind Boris Neveu who lead a French trifecta winning in 101.61.
Delfour can take heart from being the third best nation, an ominous sign two years out from Rio.
Earlier Ian Borrows finished 16th in the C1M semifinals.
The 24 year old paid the price for four seconds of penalties which relegated him from seventh to outside the top 10 qualifiers.
His 16th placing saw him rank 10th amongst the nations which is a new PB for the NSWIS paddler.
Home crowd favourite Fabien Lefevre won gold for the USA in the final. Adding the C1M title to his two K1M World Championships he won in the early 2000’s.
The final day of racing commences from 11pm AEST Sunday.
Canoeing Australia
