Jessica Fox eclipses fathers record with world K1 title, mum Myriam in her sights
AUSTRALIAN Jessica Fox has become the greatest individual paddler of all time with her sixth individual world crown and now has a long-standing record held by her mother right in her sights.
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AUSTRALIAN Jessica Fox has become the greatest individual paddler of all time with her sixth world crown and now has a long-standing record held by her mother and coach right in her sights.
Fox went one better than her five-time world champion father Richard when she secured her sixth individual world crown at the canoe slalom worlds in Rio on Sunday in the K1 class.
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Winning a seventh individual world title in the C1 early Monday would, when coupled with a previous team gold, give her eight crowns to eclipse her mother Myriam Fox-Jerusalmi as the most successful female athlete of all time in the sport.
While father Richard represented Great Britain, Myriam won eight gold medals for France across both individual and team competitions, a feat so far unmatched in history.
“I’m quite emotional and shocked,” said Fox, who now has six C1 and six K1 world crowns along with a teams gold.
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“I guess what keeps me motivated is knowing I still have more to learn and improve on.
“It’s not something I ever thought about or ever imagined I could achieve. Six world titles and my third in K1 is so special and has been amazing to share with my parents.
“I think they are OK with it, ha.’’
Incredibly four of the six world titles she has won have been by four seconds or more in a sport where medals can be decided by tenths of a second.
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“It’s been an amazing year,’’ Fox said. “Today was quite strange because I couldn’t really enjoy my win as I had the C1 semi that afternoon (and doping control in between!) so I’m looking forward to getting home and enjoying some down time and sharing this with all those who support me.’’
Fox is favoured to win a fourth C1 crown today after navigating the 2018 World Cup season without a loss.
Fox won all five World Cups over the 2018 European summer in the C1 and made further history by becoming the first athlete to win both the K1 and C1 World Cup titles.