Just days ago, the world watch with great anticipation as Jess Fox took to her K-1 slalom final. Having won silver in London and bronze in Rio just five years ago, Fox was chasing an elusive Olympic gold and, having qualified with the fastest time in the field, most expected it to be hers easily. But when the Olympian received four seconds’ worth of time penalties, the devastation cost her first place. Still, Fox stood on the podium with a bronze medal and beaming smile on her face and now, she’s showing fans just how incredible she really is, even finding a use for those condoms handed out at the Olympics.
The Aussie kayaker revealed that after her kayak suffered some damage, she had to make some last-minute repairs to her Olympic equipment, which resulted in Fox becoming MacGyver as she used a condom to patch up some damage. As Fox now looks to chase gold in the canoe event, she revealed that the condom has really been the key to seeing her dreams come to fruition. In a video posted to her Instagram, Fox was shown using a prophylactic to repair her kayak.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CR3ZKqSBEjU/
https://www.instagram.com/p/CR3ZKqSBEjU/
“Bet you never knew condoms could be used for kayak repairs,” she captioned her post.
“Very stretchy much strong. It gives the carbon a smooth finish.”
Fox’s next even will be the C-1 slalom on Thursday afternoon. It’s the first time the C1 slalom has been introduced for women at the Olympics, and speaking about the occasion Fox said it was “huge for our sport.” She said only a handful of women were competing in both K1 and C1 in Tokyo, but she had been doing so at an international level for more than a decade.
“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,” she said. The men’s canoe slalom made its debut at the Munich Olympics in 1972, but was later dropped from the Olympics, only to be reintroduced in 1992 at Barcelona. It’s since been a permanent fixture. Having missed out on gold in the kayak event, Fox is now hoping to bag gold with the canoe. She warned that as a result of her focus and determination, audiences can expect her to have 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.”
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