Jess Fox wins two golds in three days in Paris
Jessica Fox, won the women’s single kayak gold on July 28 in Paris that had eluded her in her three previous Olympics, and just three days later, won gold again in the single canoe final.
Tears of joy flowed as surely as the rapids in the whitewater course that Jessica Fox conquered, under maximum pressure, to win the Paris Olympics women’s single kayak final in the early hours of Monday morning (Australian time), earning the world’s best ever canoe slalom athlete her first gold medal in that discipline, her second career gold medal, and her fifth Olympic medal overall.
Just three days later, she successfully defended her single canoe title she’d won at the Tokyo Olympics, making Fox the greatest ever Olympic athlete in her sport, and the Australian Olympian with the most number of career individual medals – six.
“This means everything to me . . . it was just magical,” the 30-year-old Australian Olympic Team co-flag bearer said, moments after being embraced, after her single kayak final win, by her mum and coach Myriam, her sister and Olympic debutant Noemie, and her dad Richard.
“It’s been years and years of chasing this dream, of getting really close, of persevering and picking myself back-up, and a lot of teamwork.
“I feel the love and gratitude for everyone who has helped me to get here.
“There were so many Aussies in the crowd – the most incredible energy . . . and even those that woke up at 2am at home [watching on TV] – thank you, because that also helped – your positive energy helped me cross that finish line!”
on left), was embraced by her mum and coach, Myriam Fox-Jerusalmi, who 28 years earlier had won bronze for France.Photo: AAP Image/Dan Himbrechts
With her trademark steely determination and positive outlook, Fox was able to put a disappointing, error-prone semi-final performance aside – in which she only qualified eighth fastest out of 12 paddlers – to nail a confident, speedy, and crucially mistake-free run of 96.08 seconds, ultimately edging runner-up Klaudia Zwolinska of Poland (97.53), and bronze medallist Kimberley Woods of Great Britain (98.94).
Knowing she’d have to do her run earlier than seven other paddlers, the Jewish Sydneysider told Channel Nine after the medal ceremony, “I had to be aggressive, and attack, and set the bar high for the other girls to come and chase a time – that was my mindset”.
“To feel the nerves and the pressure, but also [stay] calm and focused as I stared down the course in the starting blocks, and to cross the finish line knowing I’d left it all out there . . . I’m just so proud.
“My start wasn’t perfect – I could see that on the time splits – but I really built into the run, and started to attack it.”To do that under pressure is the best feeling.”
Once she’d nailed a sizzling time, it was then an excruciating waiting game to see if anyone would leapfrog her.
Some came very close, and the final paddler – defending Olympic champion and close friend Ricarda Funk – was within striking distance three-quarters through her run, but accidentally struck a gate post with her helmet, copping a 50-second penalty.
Fox said she felt heartbroken for Funk, “but to actually then realise in that moment that it meant I was the Olympic champion . . . all the emotion and tears came out.
“I saw Mum and got to hug her . . . my sister Noemie was there, and then our whole team, and Dad. “I’m so thrilled it finally happened, and to do it in Paris too!”
Myriam, who’d ran along the whole course with Noemie to observe Jessica’s run, recalled how she “was not watching the technical, I was watching with emotion, and I am so thrilled and happy for her – this is the one we really wanted”.
Richard, who commentated the final for Channel Nine, said “That was her [Jessica’s] best final in the Olympic Games in the [single] kayak.
“Look how good these other competitors are, [but] it was beatable, and she knew that, and we knew that . . . what a final, it was so good!”
Then, in the early hours of Thursday morning (Australian time), Fox, having qualified second fastest for the women’s single canoe final, Fox’s experience, confidence, and focus gave her the edge again.
Despite copping a 2-second penalty, she paddled so fast through the course and its tricky gate combinations that her time of 101.06 was still 2.48 seconds faster than the silver medallist’s, German Elena Lilik.
American Evy Leibfarth was third, in 103.54 seconds.
Jess Fox still has a chance of winning what would be a remarkable third gold medal in Paris, when she and Noemie compete in the inaugural Olympics women’s kayak cross event.
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