Crieff's Fiona Pennie came within a second of the women's kayak title at the World Canoe Slalom Championships at Deep Creek, Maryland.

The 2013 European champion led the final with a clear run of 114.97 sec with only Australian Jessica Fox to race. But Fox pulled off a dramatic run to snatch gold from under Pennie's nose with a time of 114.01 sec. It was a bitter blow for the Scot but she will take great heart from her performance after a mixed season.

She finished eighth in the semi-final with a clear run of 123.25 seconds but produced the goods when it mattered most. "I won the silver in 2006 and the European title last year so it's equalled that but the run today was pretty good and I couldn't have done much better," she said. "It's awesome to end the year this way."

There was dismay, though, for compatriot David Florence, defending his men's canoe singles title.

The Aberdeen-born paddler had looked solid in the heats earlier in the week but could only finish 26th in the semi-finals in a time of 123.95 seconds, including four seconds of penalties, almost 17 seconds behind American Fabien Lefevre, who posted the fastest time (107.12 seconds).

"It was a very disappointing race for me," admitted Florence, who also lost his C2 title when he missed out in the qualifying heats with Richard Hounslow after missing a gate on both runs. "It's disappointing to end the season on a low. I'll just get to training and focus on next season."

Kinross teenager Eilidh Gibson narrowly missed out on a women's final place after finishing 12th in the semi-finals with 10 qualifying. Gibson clocked 157.63 seconds after touching two gates added four seconds and effectively killed off her chances.