Australian paddler Jessica Fox entered the women’s canoe final with the chance to become the most decorated canoe slalom athlete in Olympic history. She successfully defended her gold medal and won the C-1 race with a time of 101.06 and added to her gold medal count at the Paris Games after winning the women’s K-1 race on Saturday. It’s her sixth career Olympic medal and her third gold.
The Olympian didn't know what to say after the race. "I don't know how I did that, the atmosphere was incredible. I looked out and I saw so much green and yellow — so many Aussie flags and I think that was the best run I've ever done."
Fox was the penultimate racer after the semifinal seeds and came out slow behind Germany’s Elena Lilik’s start. She managed to find the current and made up time in the middle portion of the race. Her finish was one for the record books as she crossed the finish with a sub-100 time of 99.06, she’d have two seconds added for a touch penalty, but it was still fast enough to dethrone Lilik from the top spot. The Australian is the first athlete, male or female, to win gold medals in both C-1 and K-1 at the same Games.
When asked whether or not she could hear the noise of the crowd (in support of her), the Aussie replied, "I knew once I had got through the hard moves it was about trying to get to the finish and holding it together, and wow!"
Team USA's Evy Leibfarth started the finals as the lowest seed after just making the cut in the semifinals. She finished with a huge smile after a quick run that was eight seconds faster than her semifinal run. As the first competitor she took a cautious-but-diligent approach as she worked through the troublesome gates on the course — 7 and 8.
The 20-year old surprisingly never relinquished a podium spot and claimed bronze. The last medal won in a canoe slalom for the Americans was a silver by Rebecca Giddens in K-1 at the 2004 Athens Games, the same year that Leibfarth was born.
Germany’s Lilik let out a huge scream as she crossed the finish line with a time of 103.52. She had a near-perfect race with no touches that was two seconds faster than any time put forth up to that point. Only Fox’s time bested her race of a lifetime. The first-time Olympian’s performance held up for silver.