Jessica Fox triumphs in race for Prague Gold

New South Wales Institute of Sport (NSWIS) scholarship athlete Jessica Fox claimed her second World Cup victory in less than a week at the ICF Canoe Slalom World Cup in Prague.

Fox was the fastest qualifier in the women’s kayak on Thursday and she backed up that form to also place first in Friday’s semi final.

Then in a performance which emulated her 6.51s victory in the women’s canoe final last week in Augsburg, Fox put in a near-flawless run in the final (98.95s) to claim the gold with a 4.63s margin over Germany’s Ricarda Funk. Great Britain’s Mallory Franklin was more than a second further back in third.

It was a result full of redemption for Fox who last week missed out on a shot at the kayak podium after missing a gate in the semi final.

“It was really special,” said Fox. “I love racing in Prague, the atmosphere is like nowhere else and I was feeling really good this week.”

“I won the heats, I won the semis, so I thought to go out and put down a run to be proud of, to try and attack it, and it turned out pretty well. I really challenged myself to push the limits.

“I thought I could go under 100. There are so many moves on that course that are really tricky, and a lot of things had to go to plan for me to go under 100. Last week I was really frustrated not to make the final after making a silly mistake, so I really wanted to put down some good paddling.”

Fellow NSWIS athlete Lucien Delfour qualified for the men’s kayak final for the second time in as many weeks, finishing in eighth place.

Earlier in the day Jessica (6th) and NSWIS athelte Noemie Fox (25th) both qualified for the women’s canoe semi final. Brodie Crawford (20th) will be on the start line for the men’s canoe semi final however Kaylen Bassett, another NSWIS athlete (32nd), and Tristan Carter (40th) were unable to progress from the heat.

Story and photo courtesy of Padlde Australia