'Pleading for the all-clear': Jess Fox captures back-to-back C1 Olympic gold after tortured penalty 'asterisk'

PARIS: Australia's Jess Fox successfully defended her Olympic C1 gold medal with a scorching run in Paris on Thursday morning (AEST), ensuring the top step of the podium belonged to her for a second time at these Games.

In doing so, the 30-year-old champion became the most decorated canoe slalom athlete in Olympic history, clinching her sixth medal to surpass Frenchman Tony Estangeut.

Taking on the Nautical Stadium white-water course as the second-last athlete up in the C1 event, Fox stopped the clock at 99.06 seconds.

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A two-second penalty knocked the French-born superstar's time down to 101.06, but that time was still superior to the times of her 11 rivals.

Fox's C1 triumph followed her K1 victory three days earlier, when she stormed through the course in her kayak as the fifth of 12 athletes up then endured an excruciating 26-minute wait for gold.

As of Thursday morning (AEST), there are now seven Australians who've won three individual Olympic gold medals, after Fox joined Betty Cuthbert, Murray Rose, Shane Gould, Ian Thorpe, Ariarne Titmus and Kaylee McKeown in the immortal club.

Fox's only remotely close competitor in the C1 event was German silver medallist Elena Lilik, who incurred no penalty and recorded a 103.54, as US bronze medallist Evy Leibfarth clocked a 109.95, which included a two-second penalty.

Several seconds after Fox charged over the finish line and established herself in the gold medal position, Nine's commentators noted an "asterisk" had been placed beside her name, meaning judges were reviewing whether she had either touched or missed a gate.

While touching a gate incurs a two-second penalty, missing a gate equals the infamous and race-destroying 50-second penalty.

"Any time you want, judges, you can remove that asterisk, please," said caller David Culbert.

"Millions of Australians in the middle of the night pleading for the all-clear."

Jess' dad Richard Fox endured the agonising wait in the Nine commentary booth.

"We've got an inquiry going on," Richard said.

"It's a forensic team that's out there looking for something."

After almost three minutes, the wait ended when judges deemed that Jess had touched gate 19, dropping her time to 101.06.

But the final athlete up, Gabriela Satkova of Czechia, could only manage a time of 114.22, including a two-second penalty.

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Speaking on Nine's coverage later, Fox said she bumped the gate with her helmet.

"There was a little bit of doubt … I knew it was an amazing time having the four-second margin, I knew if they were looking at the two-second penalty I was well within the time to still stay in the lead," she told Eddie McGuire.

"I clipped a gate with my helmet, I think gate 19 or 18, so it took a while to come up, I think the judges were looking at all the video angles so it was a bit of a nervous wait.

"I felt confident it wasn't going to be too dramatic, compared to the kayak where I had to wait for seven other girls to come down, there I just had to wait for one more.

"It was an amazing eruption of emotion after that."

Fox has one more opportunity to win Paris gold in the kayak cross, in which she will compete with and against her sister Noemie.

Time trials will begin on Friday night (AEST).