Canoeing: High waters carry Fox to gold

RICHARD FOX won his fifth individual gold medal at the World Championships at Val di Sole, Italy yesterday when he finished half a second ahead.

His time of 1min 59.95sec in the first run was more than two seconds quicker than Melvyn Jones, who was pushed into third place by Richard Weiss of the United States in the second run. With Shaun Pearce finishing fourth, it meant Fox won his fifth team gold medal as well.

He said he was going to have a holiday and then decide his future. 'In 1991 I said that if I didn't win the worlds I would do the Olympics. Now I need to ask myself whether I will continue until 1996,' Fox added.

Violent storms across the Dolomites during the night raised the water level of the River Noce by 18 inches, which meant the gates had to be re-positioned. This caused a delay of two hours to the start.

'I was very pleased because the higher water suited my style and I prefer it,' Fox said.

The victory brought the gold medal tally for the Fox family to four at the championship. Richard's wife Myriam also won the individual and team events.