The victory comes just nine months after she underwent surgery to remove a tumour from her kidney, a health challenge that forced her out of competition for months.

Despite receiving a two‑second penalty, Fox finished 0.73 seconds ahead of Slovakia’s Eliška Mintálová, the only paddler in the top six to complete a clean run. After the race, Fox said in a bilingual post‑race interview, “I have great memories here in Paris. It’s always a pleasure to race here with the amazing crowd. The course was hard, very challenging, very physical — I’m still out of breath. I gave it everything and I’m so happy to take the win today.”

Her sister, Noémie Fox, also raced the K1 and placed fifth, just 0.1 seconds away from a medal.

Jess Fox is the two‑time defending Olympic champion in the C1 event and a five‑time world champion. She will have another chance to defend her C1 title when the event takes place on Friday night (AEST).