Jess Fox Makes History Winning Three Gold Medals

Jess Fox has made history winning her third gold medal of the weekend in the Kayak Cross event at the ICF Canoe Slalom World Cup in Krakow, the first paddler in history to do so.

After winning both the Canoe and Kayak events earlier in the weekend, Fox collected her 50th individual World Cup gold medal.

After flying through qualification rounds, Fox finished in first in the final ahead of Tereza Kneblova (CZE) in second and 2023 World Champion Kimberley Woods (GBR) in third.

“I feel incredible – this is so unexpected and I’m just so thrilled,” said Fox.

“You never know what could happen, especially in the Kayak Cross. My strategy was just to try and get a good start and to stay clear headed throughout and make the right decisions.

“I took it step by step and really enjoyed myself out there. It was challenging – the final started and it was just chaos, I had to really fight and adapt the whole way.

Fox was almost speechless about her history making feat, but said that she couldn’t be happier with how the weekend panned out.

“Winning three gold medals in one weekend had never been done before – I can’t believe I’ve just done it,” said Fox.

“To be able to race well in all three categories doesn’t happen very often, I’m really pleased with how I was able to put together those races today.

“It has just been the perfect weekend, I couldn’t be happier,” said Fox.

With the ICF World Cup 3 in Krakow coming to a close, Fox will now turn her attention to Paris, with the Opening Ceremony only 40 days away.

“For me these last three weeks have been a stepping stone on my path to Paris 2024,” said Fox.

“We’ll head to France now and really focus on that final stretch before the Games,” she finished.

The Canoe Slalom World Cup season will now pause, with the next event to be the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. The World Cup season will resume in Italy in September, with the World Cup Finals to be raced in Spain at the end of September.

Article and image courtesy of Paddle Australia