Sep 06, 2021
Tokyo Olympic gold medalist Jessica Fox (Australia) repeats her Olympic victories in the ICF canoe slalom world cup at La Seu, Spain.
The Australian paddler took the gold in the women’s C1 final by more than six seconds. This adds to the K1 gold she won earlier on in the competition. Czech Vit Prindis won in the men’s K1 at the third world cup of the 2021 season while Spanish paddler Miquel Trave took the gold in the men’s C1.
Fox performed fantastically on the 1992 Olympic Course in La Seu d’Urgell, Spain. In the women’s C1 she stopped the clock at 93.07, more than six seconds faster than Czech canoeist Tereza Fiserova. Nuria Vilarrubla (ESP) picked up the bronze medal at home.
“ "For me it was all about having a good start and feeling tight and fast on the top section,” -Jessica Fox
In the women’s K1 final, Fox was 3.66 seconds faster than Mallory Franklin from Great Britain who led in the semifinal. Slovakia’s Eliska Mintalova won her first ever World Cup medal finishing third.
On the other hand, Maialen Chourraut, the Tokyo Olympic Games silver medallist was outside the final in 11th place together with 2019 world champion from La Seu, Eva Tercelj (SLO).
The Men’s K1 was an exciting final, with Vit Prindis winning his second world cup gold medal at the venue. The reigning European champion produced a run that kept him at the top until the very end.
Prindis was 0.36 seconds faster than Austrian Felix Oschmautz who won his second silver world cup medal. The Austrian paddler also finished in second position in Markkleeberg. Third place went to Slovenian Peter Kauzer, while the future of Spanish kayaking, Pau Echaniz, was only 0.01 seconds away from Kauzer.
In the Men’s C1 Miquel Trave became the local hero by finishing first but also for winning against former C1 world champions David Florence (GBR) and Franz Anton (GER).
“It’s my third or fourth race here at home. I am really happy. I had one touch at the top, but I followed the plan, I was calm. It’s good.” -Miquel Trava
Olympic champion Benjamin Savsek, the reigning world champion Cedric Joly and other favourite paddlers such as Ander Elosegi, Kimberley Woods or Ana Satila stayed outside the final. Now the Canoe Slalom World Cup series moves to Pau, France.