Australia’s Kaylen Bassett has collected the bronze medal in the men’s C1 event at the ICF Slalom World Championships at Penrith’s Whitewater Stadium.<\/p>\n
But star paddler No\u00e9mie Fox was in tears after a ninth-placed finish in the women’s C1 final on Thursday afternoon.<\/p>\n
French heavyweight Nicolas Gestin clocked 97.13 seconds to claim the men’s C1 gold, followed by Great Britain’s Ryan Westley (98.03).<\/p>\n
Competing in windy conditions, Bassett trailed Gestin by 1.61 seconds to be third out of the final 12 competitors.<\/p>\n
The 28-year-old was the fifth paddler to set a time and endured a nervous wait to find out if he had finished on the podium.<\/p>\n
It is Australia’s first medal of the world titles.<\/p>\n
“The conditions were pretty rough today and outside of rain, there’s not much else you really want to be happening on the water with the wind,” Bassett said.<\/p>\n
“But [on] the home course, I just felt comfortable. I was at home on the water to feel like I could just paddle my run.”<\/p>\n
Competing in front of family and friends, Bassett said he was “lost for words”.<\/p>\n
He felt vindicated after making the decision to move interstate from Melbourne to Penrith to further his career.<\/p>\n
“The medal today is awesome, but to have even just been racing here at home in the final, that was validation for the move enough,” said Bassett, who came to the sport in his late teens.<\/p>\n
“[You] Make a lot of sacrifices, things people don’t see, things people do see and that medal is just the cherry on top of it all. “<\/p>\n
Having competed internationally since 2021, Bassett’s bronze medal is his best finish at a world championship.<\/p>\n
Fox out of the medals<\/p>\n
Fox managed a clean run in the women’s final but finished adrift of the medals.<\/p>\n
Poland’s Klaudia Zwoli\u0144ska won gold ahead of Russian Alsu Minazova (silver) and Brazil’s Ana S\u00e1tila (bronze).<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
No\u00e9mie Fox was more than eight seconds off the pace in the women’s C1 final. (Getty Images: Andy Cheung)<\/p>\n
Fox, who claimed the gold medal in the kayak cross event at last year’s Paris Olympics, said it was an “amazing” experience to be competing in a world championship final in front of a home crowd.<\/p>\n
But despite avoiding time penalties, the Penrith local said she did not deliver a polished performance in the final, finishing more than eight seconds behind Zwoli\u0144ska.<\/p>\n
“It’s incredibly frustrating because I was feeling great,” Fox said.<\/p>\n
“It’s a missed opportunity, but that’s the sport as well. And the wind was very hard to manage, for sure.”<\/p>\n
Fox’s campaign will continue when she contests the kayak and kayak cross events on Friday and Saturday respectively.<\/p>\n
“[I’m] Excited that’s two other opportunities I get,” Fox said.<\/p>\n
“I’m not just finishing on a frustrated low.”<\/p>\n
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