New South Wales Institute of Sport (NSWIS) scholarship holder Noemie Fox and Benjamin Pope have claimed maiden gold medals in the women’s and men’s K1 finals at the 2026 Australian Open.

In what is her first gold medal win since the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, Fox handled the pressure, going last in the women’s K1 final to defeat Zuzana Pankova (SVK) by two seconds.

“I’m super happy. First ever K1 win at a world ranking [event] as well. I took a lot of risks in that run and really tried to push hard. After winning a lot of qualifications, it felt great to finally win a final,” Fox said.

“For me I’ve always known I can have podium winning runs and it just hasn’t quite been there. And that’s what this is, it’s that confidence building run to finally put it down when it counts.”

Fox’s attention now moves to the women’s kayak cross tomorrow, looking to improve from the Penrith Open where she finished fourth. 

“Definitely trying to get strong time trials in and then maximising each round and as much head-to-head contact that we can get while the [international] girls are still here because it’s great competition,” Fox said. 

Pope finished the men’s K1 final with an equal time to 2025 World Championship silver medalist Jakub Krejci (CZE), his best K1 result to date. 

“It was quite a nerve-wracking race to be honest. I didn’t have a good weekend last weekend, so I knew I had to bring it all out this weekend and really put my best forward.

“I wanted to win. I wanted to put down good runs and I do feel like I’ve achieved that today,” Pope said. 

Looking to defend his men’s kayak cross title from the 2025 Australian Open, today’s result gives him great confidence.

“Hopefully I pull that off. With kayak cross, you never know what’s going to happen.”

The final day of the Australian Open will feature the men’s and women’s kayak cross, kicking off from 9:05am AEDT at Penrith Whitewater Stadium.

AUSTRALIAN OPEN DAY 2 RESULTS

Women’s K1

1st – Noemie Fox (AUS)

2nd – Zuzana Pankova (SVK)

3rd – Eva Alina Hocevar (SLO)

Men’s K1

1st – Jakub Krejci (CZE)

1st – Benjamin Pope (AUS)

3rd – Ziga Lin Hocevar (SLO)

For Australian Open schedule and results, click here

Paddle Australia

Photos: JRG Images

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