Australia’s flag bearer Jess Fox delivered under huge pressure to continue her country’s golden start to the Games, winning the women’s kayak at the Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium in eastern Paris.

The 30-year-old came into Sunday’s semi-final with the fastest time in Saturday’s heats but slipped to eighth before the medal race, triggering fears she may not live up the expectations that come with being the face of the Australian team in Paris.

But she produced a brilliant display in the final, finishing the course in a clean 96 seconds, winning by one and a half seconds over Poland’s Klaudia Zwolinska. Great Britain’s Kimberley Woods won bronze after Germany’s Ricarda Funk picked up a penalty that left her out of contention.

The medal was only secured following a torturous 15 minutes for hundreds of Australian supporters in the stands, the whole paddle community and a who’s who of Australia’s Olympic movement who were on hand to watch.

Fox was in tears afterwards, embracing chef de mission Anna Meares, and murmuring “I need to compose myself” behind the podium before the presentation. Afterwards, she spent close to an hour with French, Spanish and English media.

“It was just the perfect day for me,” she told the Australian contingent. “It didn’t start well but it finished really well, and it was just magical.”

Her father Richard was commentating on the race for Channel Nine. “I was worried a little bit because it’s such a tough course and I knew that – not that Jess was rattled, but, you know, she didn’t have the best run in the semi,” he said.

Fox said she tried to put the semi-final out of her mind quickly, and she saw benefits in going early. “Part of me was like, ‘this is good, it’s different to Tokyo’, but it just means that you got to come out and you’ve got to be the attacker and set the bar for everyone else to chase,” she said. “And so that means the wait was long.”

Seven kayaks had to go down the 200m course after Fox, each run only building the tension for the Australian team, including coach Myriam Fox-Jerusalmi – Jess’s mother. Myriam – who appeared at two Olympic Games for France – said the result was “an amazing feeling”. “I failed to bring the gold twice in the two Olympics I completed in and I know how hard it is,” she said.

Her husband echoed the sentiments. “She deserved that so much. She’s been No 1 in the world for I don’t know how long, but she’s never won the kayak event.”

The medal is Fox’s fourth in the kayak event stretching back to London 2012, and her second gold after she won in the canoe in Tokyo. She improved her time from the semi-final by a barely believable six seconds, avoiding any penalties. It left her competitors having to take more risks to navigate the tricky course.

The pressure took its toll on Funk in the final run. She had qualified fastest and was neck-and-neck with Fox heading into the final section, but missed a gate and tumbled down the leaderboard, handing Fox the gold medal.

Watching on was a crowd of Australian luminaries including Meares, Sports Commission chief executive Kieren Perkins and AOC president Ian Chesterman.

“That’s one of the greatest things I’ve ever seen in sport,” Chesterman said. “To do it the way she had to do it, she just showed what a champion she is. She’s a champion person, and a champion athlete. We’re all incredibly proud of her.”

Fox still has the canoe and kayak cross events to come. “After this, I’ll celebrate a little bit,” she said, “But I think we’ll be off to bed and back to training tomorrow to refocus for the canoe.”