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West Australian Ben Pope has taken out the men’s kayak cross final on the last day of racing at the 2025 Canoe Slalom Oceania Championships at Penrith Whitewater Stadium.
Meanwhile, Olympic champion Noemie Fox was crowned Oceania champion, after narrowly missing today’s final in a world class field.
Pope was the third fastest athlete in today’s time trials, earning the right to wear the red bib in the heats. Eager to continue his speed and power down the course, Pope was able to maintain pole position from the heats right through until the final.
In the final, Pope was dominant, exploding off the start ramp and holding onto his lead right down the course to cross the line in first.
“It was a big day today – lots of kayak cross. I had a really good time trial run, I finished in third and I was super happy with that, and that set me up really well for the rest of the racing,” Pope said.
“Through the head to heads, and each round, I managed to just get out in front of everybody and I built a lead through the rest of the run, and managed to finish first each round all the way to the final,” he said.
It was a memorable day for Olympic champion Noemie Fox who earlier in the day was recognised with an Order of Australia Medal (OAM) on the Australia Day Honours List.
Fox made her way through the rounds, right up until the semi finals, where an unfortunate third place saw her narrowly miss the final.
But Fox said she was proud of her efforts today, especially amongst a world class field of women’s competitors.
“It was a very stacked kayak cross field – we had Olympic champions, world champion, European champion, lots of World Cup winners…
“So in the female field it was so stacked and it’s incredible to have them all here training and to go up against them.
“Disappointed to be knocked out in the semis and I felt like I couldn’t do anything (differently) so there’s lots to build and learn from.
“But it feels like a real privilege to have such high level competition at home,” she said.
Today’s Kayak Cross finals bring to a close the 2025 Canoe Slalom Oceania Championships. The action will return to Penrith Whitewater Stadium from 21-23 February for the 2025 Canoe Slalom AUS Open.
For more information on the AUS Open – click here