Australia’s Jessica Fox can be considered a double-gold prospect for Tokyo while Slovakia’s Jakub Grigar posted his first ever world cup win on a day of hot competition at the ICF canoe slalom competition in Markkleeberg on Saturday.
Fox dominated the women’s C1 event at last week’s ICF world cup in Prague, and followed up with a swashbuckling performance in the K1 in Germany on Saturday. Grigar also sent out a warning to his Tokyo opponents with a two-second victory in the men’s K1.
Fox finished an incredible 3.52 seconds ahead of Germany’s Ricarda Funk, with another German, Elena Apel, in third. All three athletes picked up a two-second penalty for a gate touch on the challenging course, and Fox also had to overcome an early mistake.
“The whole top section I felt like I was losing a bit of time, so I really had to pull it out at the bottom and really attack it and go for the tight lines, so I’m so happy to have pulled that off,” Fox said.
“It’s been a great start to the world cup campaign, and now the countdown to Tokyo is well and truly underway, 34 days to go, it will come around really quickly.
“This one will be different, the experience will be a little bit different, and being able to compete in two different events will feel very different, so I’m really excited to get there and to have that opportunity to race in C1 is so special, and to share that with all the girls that have qualified.”
WOMEN’S K1
