World champion paddler Jessica Fox has suffered a rare defeat in her favoured canoe slalom event at the Oceania Championships.
After capsizing but still finishing third in her semi-final, 19-year-old Fox was well below her best in the final on the Penrith course in Sydney's west.
She could only watch on as NSW rival Ros Lawrence, the final competitor, posted a clean and fast run to relegate her to second place, four seconds behind.
Fox has dominated the C1 event internationally in recent years, easily winning the world championship in Prague last year.
In the men's final, Victorian Jaxon Merritt showed he's a star of the future, beating a world-class field to win the men's K1 final.
Merritt and New South Welshman Will Forsythe were rewarded for clean runs, while fellow Australian Lucien Delfour and Frenchman Etienne Daille were faster but incurred 50-second penalties for missing a gate.
