Fantastic Fox on top of the world in Germany

Jessica Fox has continued her golden run, with an emphatic back-to-back canoe victory at the International Canoe Federation Canoe Slalom World Cup in Augsburg, Germany overnight. 

After missing out on a spot in the women’s kayak final on Friday, Fox came roaring back to top form on Saturday to qualify as the second fastest for the women’s canoe final.

Building on her success from Prague last week, Fox sealed first position once again in the women’s C1. 

It was another challenging course setup with many paddlers coming unstuck in the final section. Fox – a New South Wales Institute of Sport (NSWIS) scholarship holder – picked up a two-second penalty when she touched the penultimate gate, but her time of 107.93 was still enough for her to claim a comfortable victory.  

“It’s the best feeling. I was disappointed yesterday not to make the final in the kayak, so to come out on this course today and put together a winning run means a lot,” said Fox.  “This course constantly makes you question your decisions and your line choices, but I managed to piece everything together.  

“The touch near the bottom was probably the only thing stopping it from being a perfect run, but overall I’m really pleased.” 

Just 0.01 seconds separated silver and bronze as Spain’s Nuria Vilarrubla went one better from her heats to capture silver in 110.27. 

Martina Satkova edged her way into third, crossing the line in 110.28, making it the Czech’s second medal of the World Cup Series. 

Racing continues at the World Cup in Augsburg this evening, with the Kayak Cross. Click here for the schedule and results. Catch live racing on the Planet Canoe YouTube channel.

Paddle Australia

Photos: Romain Bruneau/Paddle Australia