Jessica Fox 2017 Sportswoman of the Year and will now focus on matching the men
Photo Credit: World Paddle Awards | Jens Thybo | Silkeborg
JESSICA FOX (Australia) - Winner of the 2017 Sportswoman of the Year Award.
Born: 11/06/1994, Disciplines: canoe slalom (C1W, K1W), canoe sprint (K1), Represents: Australia
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jessfox.canoeslalom/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jessfox94/
Major Results:
- Olympic silver and bronze medalist - 2012, 2016.
- Triple C1W World Champion – 2013, 2014, 2015
- Double K1W World Champion – 2014, 2017
- Overall World Cup winner C1W – 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017
- U23 World Champion K1W – 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017
- U23 World Champion C1W – 2013, 2014, 2016
- Junior World Champion K1W and C1W – 2010, 2012
As the most decorated female slalom athlete in history, Jess Fox needs little introduction. With two Olympic medals and 14 World Championship gold medals to her name, the 23-year-old became the first woman in history to win her fifth senior World Championship titles at the 2017 World Championships in Pau (over a period of five years: 2013-2017).
To top off a fantastic year and a long list of achievements, the Sportswoman of the Year award further cements Jess’ name in paddlesports history with her joining a handful of remarkable athletes including Lisa Carrington (Sprint), Renata Csay (Marathon) and Freya Hoffmeister (Expedition).
“It is such an honour to win this award. The finalists are all incredible athletes across all disciplines of canoeing who have had phenomenal seasons and contributed so much to the sport so to be recognised in this way is huge and I am very grateful for the votes and support of the WPA, broader canoeing community and all the fans,” she said.
After a disappointing performance in the C1 event at the 2017 World Championships, Jess showed incredible resilience and maturity to bounce back and win the K1 event the next day by more than four seconds.
“Obviously being the favourite in the C1 after three consecutive titles, I was super disappointed with my C1 race at the World Championships but learnt so much in terms of pressure, recovery, resilience and being able to bounce back to win the K1 the next day made it a really special race. It was my second world title in the K1 and I was really proud of the way I raced. I’d say it was my best run ever!”
“We also came away with two teams medals in the C1 and K1 teams and to share the podium with the girls was also really cool as we have never won a teams medal in both the events.”
With the C1 event being added to the Olympic program in Tokyo, Jess’ focus has been split between the two disciplines, with her winning medals in both events at numerous World Cups in 2017.
Photo Credit: World Paddle Awards | Jens Thybo | Silkeborg
“Last year being an Olympic year, the focus was more on the K1 but this year I tried to make my training 50/50 in K1 and C1 and really enjoyed it. I had some awesome races in the C1 like in Augsburg and Ivrea where I won gold with a big margin, but it was more the way I raced that was a bit different. Really attacking it from start to finish,” she said.
As one of the most consistent female paddlers in the world, Jess is now focussed on matching the men in order to keep improving.
“A major performance goal will be to defend the K1 world title and regain the C1 world title but I am also testing different kayak and canoe models and playing around with design so I am looking forward to exploring that side of things too to develop technique and chase and challenge the guys on the water too!” [Her final run at the World Championships in Pau was astonishingly quick with 105.77 percent of the K1 Men winning time.]
With her determination, resilience and skill it is only a matter of time before Jess challenges the men on the water. Good luck and well done!