Fox ends canoe slalom season on a high

NSWIS paddler Jess Fox has finished her 2016 canoe slalom campaign with victory in the K1 in the World Cup final at Tacen, Slovenia.

Fox stunned a world-class field to post a comprehensive victory in the season-ending event, a day after the 22-year-old claimed silver medal in the final of the C1.

Fox finished in 77.55 seconds, ahead of Austria’s Corinna Kuhnle who posted a time of 79.83, with Great Britain’s Fiona Pennie a further 0.13 seconds behind in third.

The end of year victory comes after Fox won the bronze medal in the K1 event at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, four years after winning silver at the London Olympics.

After qualifying fourth fastest for the final, Fox had to wait for Kuhnle, Pennie and Germany’s Ricarda Funk to complete their runs.

All four paddlers finished without committing an error on the dramatically shortened course, which had been reduced to 14 gates after cracks began to appear in concrete at the bottom of the run.

It was Fox’s first World Cup win for 2016, after winning silver medals at two earlier events. It was also a happy return to Tacen, where she won her first World Cup event, in 2013. These results placed Jess second overall in the World Cup standings in the women’s K1 event and third overall in the canoe.