Australia’s Jessica Fox has failed to complete her collection of Olympic medals, grabbing bronze in the K1 canoe slalom final at Tokyo on Tuesday.
Fox, 27, had been gunning for an elusive gold medal after winning silver and bronze medals in the event at the past two Olympics.
German Ricarda Funk, who qualified third fastest for the final, laid down the challenge to Fox, finishing more than a second clear of defending champion Maialen Chourraut.
Slovakian Eliska Mintalova then threatened to eclipse Funk but a slower second half resulted in her finishing almost three seconds behind the German before also receiving a penalty.
Next came Fox.
A bronze for Jess Fox!
Just 1.23 seconds away from gold, Fox gave it everything in her run 👏#Tokyo2020 | #7Olympics pic.twitter.com/dccDGJu4wd
— 7Olympics (@7olympics) July 27, 2021
Widely regarded as the greatest of her generation, the 10-time world champion copped a two-second penalty early.
She regained control and made up for lost time, but another two-second penalty at the penultimate gate relegated Fox to third.
Earlier, Fox qualified fastest for the 10-woman K1 final by handling the challenging Kasai Canoe Slalom course with aplomb, finishing more than three seconds clear of her nearest rival, Mintalova.
However, a late two-second time penalty was added for touching a gate, reducing the margin to 1.33 seconds.
-with AAP
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