Gold medalist Noemie Fox of Australia celebrates after winning women's kayak cross.Molly Darlington/Reuters
Australia’s Noemie Fox followed in her sister’s footsteps to pick up the first-ever Olympic gold medal in women’s kayak cross on Monday before New Zealand’s Finn Butcher won a thrilling men’s final.
Fox’s sister Jessica secured the first two golds in canoe and kayak slalom on the whitewater course, and her younger sibling came out on top in a thrilling decider.
Angele Hug took silver for France and British world number one Kimberley Woods claimed bronze, but the day belonged to Fox whose lightning starts and smooth, strong strokes set her on course for victory.
“I think I’m in shock, I was just so happy to make it through the semi-final, that was my goal, now just go and enjoy it. Its insane, it’s so much fun. Today just went to perfection, I enjoyed every second,” Fox told reporters.
In the men’s race, top-ranked Briton Joe Clarke had to be content with silver after getting caught up in traffic early on, allowing Butcher to move ahead, where he stayed until he crossed the finish line for a victory that was as thrilling as it was unexpected.
“It’s crazy. I don’t believe it yet. Once I got out in front and turned in front, I was like, ‘no way’. Those guys are so good. I’m proud to be the champion. The first one – that’s pretty sick,” an elated Butcher said.
Germany’s Noah Hegge took the bronze in what was a very successful debut for Kayak cross racing, where racers drop into the water together and paddle frenetically through a series of downstream and upstream gates as fast as they can.
Hug’s silver aside, it was a disappointing day for the French with Camille Prigent eliminated at the quarter-final stage before teenager Titouan Castryck was sensationally knocked out, despite finishing first in his race.
With the first two in each race going through to the semis, the 19-year-old kayak slalom silver medalist cruised over the line in first place but was bumped down to third after judges decided he failed to pass the third of 10 gates on the course correctly.
“I think the gate passed a bit over my helmet, and they judged that my shoulders are not in the gate – I would like to see the replay, because I didn’t see it and it’s a bit severe in my opinion,” Castryck told reporters.
“If you start looking at centimetres, it’s nonsense – we don’t have the technical and technological means to check, so I think it’s a bit of a shame,” he added.
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