Olympic champ Jess Fox admits pressure is building ahead of world championships in Penrith
There's been some rough water for Jessica Fox since her Paris Olympics medal blitz, but the canoe great feels her title defence is on track 100 days out from the world championships in Penrith.
Fox will defend her kayak crown on her home course, with the competition getting under way on September 29, but despite winning gold in the event in Paris, her results this year haven't been at her usual standard.
The 31-year-old, who owns six Olympic medals, including three gold, has missed the K1 final at both of the opening World Cup events in Europe.
In the opening race in La Seu in Spain, Fox finished 48th in a field of 50 after incurring a 50-second penalty for missing a gate.
She also missed the K1 final at the second World Cup event in Pau in France, but at both she bounced back to win gold in the C1 races.
'It's funny, people are always almost shocked when you don't qualify for the final, or when you don't win, as when you've done it so many times it's just expected, but actually it's hard every time,' Fox said from Prague, ahead of another World Cup later this month.
'Even the best athletes make mistakes, so it was disappointing.
'I was upset, I had a good cry about it, and then I just got back on the horse the next day, got back in my boat and had another crack.
'I'm fine-tuning things and I'm still in a training and building phase at the moment before the worlds, and I'm taking in as much info as I can.'
She said the gates hung quite low in Spain, and she was too cautious in her approach.
But after taking time out to savour her Olympic success, also winning gold in the C1 while her sister Noemie won the kayak cross, she felt she was building nicely for the world championships.
Fox admitted the pressure of defending her title on her home course could be on par with the Olympics.
'Paris was magical in every way and it went perfectly, and was a very successful campaign, and fantastic to perform in that way,'' she said.
'Now looking forward, obviously you're always going to have that expectation and target on your back, you're the reigning Olympic champion, reigning world champion in the kayak, and that hovers there, like a cloud, if you let it.
'Everyone's hungry for that race, and just because you're world number one or just because you're the reigning champion doesn't mean it's different.
'Coming into a world championship at home is going to feel very much like an Olympics in terms of the pressure and the expectation, but I think we'll be ready.
'I love our home course and that's going to serve me, and I'm going to try and make it an advantage.'
While she's set to compete in the next Olympics in Los Angeles, Fox is also looking beyond her paddling career and has partnered with charity organisation High Impact Athletes, with sponsors pledging an amount for each 'clean' gate on the course.
'It's about looking beyond sport and going, how else can I have an impact, and how do I keep this interesting and exciting, and what's my legacy going to be?,'' she said.
'Each race, each run, each gate that I take, I'm pledging my support for this charity, which provides safe, clean drinking water for people around the world, and bringing people on board with me.'
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There was at least some good news for the Lions in the performances of their three Australian-born players - Scotland's Tuipulotu plus the Irish pair of prop Finlay Bealham and replacement wing Mack Hansen, who all made excellent debuts in the scarlet. Melburnian Tuipulotu looked the Lions' most incisive attacker even if his handling may have been just a tiny bit off while Canberra's Bealham was instrumental in the Lions' scrum domination. The ebullient Hansen, another Canberra native much loved by the Dublin faithful, got one of the biggest cheers of the night when he came on for the last 20 minutes, and repaid the ovation with a couple of fine raids. The British and Irish Lions' dream of an unbeaten 2025 campaign is over even before they fly out to tour Australia after a jolting opening Test loss to Argentina in a thrilling Dublin curtain-raiser. 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But their error count was horrendous, allowing the slick visitors, who Beirne had reckoned would be treating the match as their "World Cup final", to lead 21-10 at halftime and then hold out courageously after repelling the Lions' second-half comeback. The excellent counter-attacking Pumas also crossed the whitewash three times through Ignacio Mendy, Tomas Albornoz and Santiago Cordero in a deflating evening for the Lions before they fly out to Perth for their first match against Western Force next Saturday. "It's disappointing. We've got to take the learnings from this," said Farrell, back at the Aviva Stadium where he's led Ireland to so much success. Not for the first time, the Pumas, who crushed the Wallabies by 40 points the last time the teams met in the Rugby Championship, delighted in spoiling the send-off, the world's No.5-ranked side now adding the Lions to their victims for the first time after beating all three Rugby Championship rivals last season. The Pumas took the upper hand early when, after Mendy's try had been answered by Aki's score, Albornoz struck from a Puma's counter from their own 22 on the stroke of halftime. The Lions, deprived of almost half their squad because of recent club commitments and injuries, had a couple of scores ruled out in the first half - including one from Sione Tuipulotu - because of knock-ons. But Farrell was briefly enthused at the start of the second half when their robust response led to the penalty try and home favourite Beirne powering over. But Cordero then put the also under-strength Pumas back in front with a superb team score and they held on grimly under pressure near their own line only for the Lions to spurn their last chance when a penalty in front of the Argentina posts was reversed over a Beirne neck roll. "Argentina deserved the win and capitalised on all the errors we made," said Farrell. "There is a lot to do. You can't win a Test with that error rate. We lost enough balls in that game for a full tour, throwing balls that weren't on. "There was good and bad throughout. We were just a little bit off - and I take responsibility for that." There was at least some good news for the Lions in the performances of their three Australian-born players - Scotland's Tuipulotu plus the Irish pair of prop Finlay Bealham and replacement wing Mack Hansen, who all made excellent debuts in the scarlet. Melburnian Tuipulotu looked the Lions' most incisive attacker even if his handling may have been just a tiny bit off while Canberra's Bealham was instrumental in the Lions' scrum domination. The ebullient Hansen, another Canberra native much loved by the Dublin faithful, got one of the biggest cheers of the night when he came on for the last 20 minutes, and repaid the ovation with a couple of fine raids.
