Gold medalist Jessica Fox of Team Australia celebrates during the medal ceremony following the Women's Canoe Slalom Final on day six of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. Photo / Getty Images
Gold medalist Jessica Fox of Team Australia celebrates during the medal ceremony following the Women's Canoe Slalom Final on day six of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. Photo / Getty Images
Aussie kayaker Jess Fox has revealed she has made some last-minute repairs to her Tokyo Olympics equipment, using a condom to match up some damage.
Fox, who won bronze in the women's K-1 slalom final on Tuesday, gets a second shot at her elusive gold medal after picking up a silver in London and a bronze at the Rio Games in 2016.
She revealed a condom is one of the reasons she has been able to chase gold this week after posting an Instagram video where she showed a prophylactic being used as part of a repairs process to her kayak.
"Bet you never knew condoms could be used for kayak repairs," she wrote to her fans.
"Very stretchy much strong. It gives the carbon a smooth finish."
Fox will chase gold in the C-1 slalom on Thursday afternoon.
Gold medalist Jessica Fox of Team Australia celebrates during the medal ceremony following the Women's Canoe Slalom Final on day six of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. Photo / Getty Images
She called the addition of a women's C1 slalom event for the first time "huge for our sport".
Fox said only a handful of women were competing in both K1 and C1 in Tokyo, but she had been doing so at international level for more than a decade and was used to it.
"It's an amazing opportunity to be able to do both events," she told AFP "We fought really hard to get to this point in my sport as women, so I am really proud to be the representative of Australia in the first women's C1 Olympic event.
"It's a big honour for all the women who fought for us to be in this position." Men's canoe slalom made its debut at the Munich Olympics in 1972, but was then dropped before being reinstated at Barcelona in 1992 and has been a permanent fixture since.
Fox is fired up to be on the podium, warning she had her "blue steel" look on.
"I'm usually quite a smiley, bubbly person and then people are often quite surprised when they see me on the start because I'm quite fierce and focused," she said.
"I guess every athlete has their own way of getting into the zone. For some people there may be more smiling while others are a bit more intense or focused."
While a veteran of two previous Olympic campaigns, Fox said she would never get tired of the unique vibe of the event, and the opportunity to rub shoulders with people like teammate and tennis world number one Ashleigh Barty.
"She commented on one of my Instagram stories a few days ago and I was like, 'oh my god, Ash Barty sent me a message'," she said.
"I did spot her when I was walking to the bar and I was like, 'oh my god, Ash Barty is here'. How cool (that) I can say I'm one of Ash Barty's teammates in a way.
"I think it's one of the special things about the Olympics. We're all from different sports, but we're all teammates in these two weeks and we're all part of a bigger group of over 4,000 Olympians."
