World champion Jessica Fox tastes success in first K1 event of new season

WORLD champion paddler and multiple Olympic medallist Jessica Fox has kicked off her European season with stunning success in her first event.

World champion paddler Jessica Fox has kicked off her European season with stunning success in her first event.

The Sydney athlete, chasing her first Olympic gold at the Tokyo Games in two years, claimed an emphatic victory at a canoe slalom World Cup event in Liptovsky Mikulas, Slovakia, this morning.

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Fox went into the final as the fastest qualifier and emerged from it with almost a two second victory over Austria’s Corinna Kuhnle. German paddler Ricarda Funk was third.

Jess Fox claims gold in a winning start to the European season.

“I’m really pleased with my K1 races, second in the heats, first in the semis, and then to back that up with a win is awesome,” Fox said.

“It’s always tough the first race of the season. Our last competition was the Australian Open, the Europeans have had their Championships, so you know the levels been up.

“There’s pressure, but there’s also this expectation that I put on myself. I had a great season last year, and I want to match that, I want to better that, I want to keep improving on that.”

“While there’s pressure, I don’t feel like I’m being chased, I feel like Ricarda, Corinna, they’re consistently up there. It makes for great finals and a great competition.”

In other Australian results, Fox’s teammate Ros Lawrence finished 14th in the women’s K1 semi-final and Daniel Watkins was 16th in the men’s C1 semi-final.