The key to victory, according to Australian kayak champion Jessica Fox, is to avoid the “silly mistake”.
It is a piece of self-help advice the 29-year-old took to heart in Prague, where she has claimed her second World Cup victory in less than a week at the ICF Canoe Slalom World Cup in Prague.
The Olympics champion was the fastest qualifier in the women’s kayak on Thursday and backed up that form to also place first in Friday’s semi final.
It was a result full of redemption for the French-born NSW resident, who last week missed out on a shot at the kayak podium after skipping 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.
‘A run to be proud of’
“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.”
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.
Lucien Delfour qualified for the men’s kayak final for the second time in as many weeks, finishing eighth.
Earlier in the day Jessica (6th) and 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, but Kaylen Bassett (32nd) and Tristan Carter (40th) were unable to progress from the heat.
-AAP
