With only 111 days to go until the ICF Slalom World Championships get underway in Sydney, the Australian Canoe Slalom team got their 2025 international season underway in Spain from 6 – 8 June.

Jessica Fox and Lucien Delfour came away from the weekend with a gold and bronze medal in their respective events.

Olympic gold medalist Jess Fox, launched her campaign into a home World Championships with a gold medal in the women’s canoe final.

Despite a 2-second penalty, Jess put down a flying run and finished over four seconds faster than second place to claim her 34th gold medal in a C1 event.

“To win at the first World Cup is a great start but still four more races to go for the World Cup series and then the World Championships is the main goal of the year,” Fox said.

“I’m really looking forward to the season and gearing up for the World Championships at home. That’s our biggest opportunity as Aussie athletes and this race here, there has been some really great paddling from the Aussies,” Fox said.

In the men’s Kayak final, Lucien Delfour secured the bronze medal – his first podium finish in six years.

Coming into the final having finished third in his heat, Lucien put together an impressive finals run crossing the line in first place with only the final two athletes to beat his time.

“It was fairly intense for the first race of the year. I’ve come a long way,” Delfour said.

“This is my first medal since 2019 and my first medal here since 2018. There were lots of disappointments and struggles, so it’s a great feeling.”

Both Fox’s and Delfour’s podiums placed the Australian Canoe Slalom Team in a strong position ahead of the 2025 ICF Slalom World Championships at home in Penrith.

The team will head to Pau, France for World Cup 2 as they look to continue their international season.

For full results – click here.

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Image by: Romain Bruneau