Fox makes golden return to Paris Olympic venue

Jess Fox returned to the Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium near Paris and claimed another gold medal at the venue where she won two Olympic titles in 2024.

The Australian won the women's K1 event in the ICF Canoe Slalom World Cup despite receiving a two-second penalty. She finished 0.73 seconds ahead of Slovakia's Eliška Mintálová, the only paddler in the top six to complete a clean run.

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I have great memories here in Paris. It's always a pleasure to race here with the amazing crowd.

Poland's Klaudia Zwolińska, the Paris Olympic silver medallist, took third. She edged Ukraine's Viktoriia Us by 0.05 seconds. Fox's sister Noémie finished fifth, only 0.1 seconds away from the podium.

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The course was hard. It was very challenging, very physical, I'm still out of breath.

Fox said she still had fond memories of Paris and enjoyed racing before the home crowd. She described the course as difficult, physical and challenging, adding that she had given everything to win. The result marked her second World Cup victory of the season, following three gold medals at the world championships in Oklahoma during a comeback season after kidney-tumour surgery nine months ago.

The sisters will have another chance to win gold in the C1 event on Friday night Australian time. Jess Fox has won the event at the Tokyo and Paris Olympics. In the men's race, Italy's Giovanni de Gennaro won with a clean run, while Australia's Lucien Delfour placed 10th after four seconds of penalties.

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I gave it everything and I'm so happy to take the win today.