Always bring protection.
Australia’s Jessica Fox demonstrated this week that her Olympic-level paddling ability is just the tip of her skillset after she cleverly repurposed a condom to repair her kayak before a medal-winning run.
The Australian athlete shared footage of her ingenious repair on TikTok earlier this week, just before winning a bronze medal in the canoe slalom K1 event.
The footage shows a member of Fox’s staff adding a carbon-fibre patch to the nose of her kayak, then stretching an Olympics-issued prophylactic over top of it.
“Bet you never knew condoms could be used for kayak repairs,” she wrote in a caption on the video. “It gives the carbon a smooth finish!”
Fox had a pretty smooth finish of her own a short time later, placing third in the canoe slalom K1 final.
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The 27-year-old later won gold in the canoe slalom C1 final, ending her decade-long pursuit of the top Olympic honour.
Fox has been among the top slalom athletes for years, and expectations were high for her as the daughter Richard Fox and Myriam Fox-Jerusalmi, two former Olympic medal-winning paddlers.
“My parents have been amazing role models, amazing inspirations, amazing support for me,” she said after her victory. “Both being Olympians — Mom winning bronze, Dad missing the gold because of a penalty, Mom missing the gold because of a penalty — I think we’re all pretty emotional about these penalties. So to win today — it’s a win for them. It’s a win for our whole family.”
It was also a win for the IOC’s efforts to promote safe sex at the Games. Some 150,000 condoms are expected to be used in the Olympic Village during the Games — but only one has been thrust into the spotlight of the competition itself.
— with files from Reuters
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