By Philip O’Connor
PARIS (Reuters) – Gold medallist Jessica Fox and bronze-winner Kimberley Woods both knew that they were in with a medal chance during the women’s single kayak slalom on Sunday, but they still faced an agonising wait as their Olympic dreams hung in the balance.
After a poor semi-final performance, Australian world number one Fox was fifth of the 12 racers to attack the course, and though her scintillating run put her in first place, she still had to sit and watch the remaining competitors make their descents.
“The wait was awful, it was really hard,” Fox told reporters after spending the rest of the event sitting on a chair in the gold medal position, knowing that each subsequent racer down the course could knock her off her perch.
“I was proud of that run, and I knew it was a good run based on the semi-final times, but you just never know, and there were some really strong girls to come behind me,” Cox explained.
“So I was so nervous watching that, and I just had my fingers crossed and tried to pray and do everything I could to just stay calm.”
Even if Fox had been bumped down by the last two racers – silver medallist Klaudia Zwolinska and previous Olympic champion Ricarda Funk, whose medal chase ended with a missed gate – she would have remained on the podium, but that was not the case for Britain’s Woods.
Zwolinska bumped her down from second to third, and she waited on tenterhooks to see if Funk, who was last out, would edge her out of the medals completely.
“(The wait was) absolutely horrific … I couldn’t watch, I was on my knees, my head in my hands, not being able to watch,” Woods said.
The misfortune of Germany’s Funk, who missed the 19th gate to incur a 50-second penalty that demolished her hopes, turned out to be a boon for Woods as it guaranteed her the bronze.
“Then all of a sudden I hear the crowd kind of shout something, there was a mistake (by Funk) and I was like ‘Oh my God, oh my God, I can’t believe I’ve done it’,” Woods said.
Poland’s Zwolinska was equally taken by the moment.
“I don’t know what to say, I have no words – and I’m not just saying it because every athlete says it, I honestly don’t have words to describe what I am feeling right now,” she said.
(Reporting by Philip O’Connor; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
