Three-time Olympic gold medallist Jess Fox will miss the remaining Canoe Slalom World Cup events in Europe after undergoing successful surgery to remove a tumour from her left kidney.
Despite experiencing post-surgery complications, Fox is recovering well and in good spirits. She will continue her recovery at home before returning to action.
“It’s been a whirlwind over the last few weeks, but I’m all good — just a couple of gnarly new scars, a bit less kidney, and a whole lot more toughness!” Fox said in a statement on Thursday.
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“I’m feeling positive and looking forward to heading home, focusing on recovery, and then building towards being back on the water again.”
Fox took home the gold in the C1 women’s class in the first two World Cup races this year, in Spain and France. She also won the Kayak cross individual women’s event and the Kayak short women’s event in race three in Prague.
Race four of the World Cup will take place in Tacen, Slovenia on August 29–31 before the World Cup Final in Augsburg, Germany on September 4–7.
After being Australia’s flag-bearer in the Opening Ceremony of last year’s Olympics in Paris, Fox starred on the water.
She won her first gold medal in the K1 after grabbing a silver in the same event in the 2012 Olympics and a bronze at the 2016 Olympics.
Fox added to her K1 gold by winning the C1 gold for the second consecutive Olympics. She has won a total of six Olympic medals across four appearances.
The Sydneysider has won the Canoe Slalom World Cup a total of seven times in the C1 class and five times in the K1 class.