Australian canoeist, Jess Fox, is on fire at the 2024 Paris Olympics, and many are declaring her the GOAT (greatest of all time). But Fox is no stranger to winning gold.
At the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, she took home a gold medal for the C-1 Canoe Slalom, an event where athletes navigate a solo canoe through an obstacle course set on water rapids.
Some consider her win to be the best Australian sporting moment of 2021. And it was hard-won. Fox had qualified first for the final but was set a difficult challenge when Britain’s Mallory Franklin completed the course at a speed that might have seemed impossible to beat.
Competing last, Fox navigated the course without any penalties and not only did she win, but she beat Franklin’s time by almost two seconds. “There was just so much relief,” said Fox following the race. “It makes me a bit emotional to think about it again. Finally, I’d done the run I’d always wanted to do.”
Fox’s Olympic gold was a long time coming. She had already earned three Olympic medals in her career, but this was her first gold and it cemented her place as an Australian great.
Fast forward to this past Monday, and Fox did it again, winning gold in the K-1 event at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
She had qualified eighth-fastest for the final, nearly six seconds behind the leader (Tokyo’s K-1 gold medallist, Germany’s Ricarda Funk). This meant she competed earlier in the final than she was used to. It also meant she had a bit of a wait before finding out whether her finishing time was fast enough to win the gold. At 96.08 seconds, beating her proved impossible.
“I was really struggling to hold it together at the end,” she said following her win, which she says was the most incredible moment of her life. “I was so proud to be able to put together a really good run when it mattered.”
This moment was particularly poignant, as Fox’s previous gold at Tokyo was won at an Olympic Games without spectators. This time, the stands were full and she received the celebration she deserved.
“The podium was extremely special,” Jess said following her win. “Seeing so many Aussies in the crowd was unbelievable. I had some family and friends there, but then… there was such a big Aussie contingent and they were so loud and it was amazing.”
Her family, who is basically considered royalty in the sport, was also close by to celebrate her win. Jess’s sister and fellow Olympian Noemie was cheering from the sidelines. Her father Richard was commentating from the press box. Her mum (who is also her coach) was ready to rush Fox for a big hug the moment her result was announced.
In the days following Jess’s win, she was declared the GOAT (greatest of all time) and comparisons have been drawn between her and Simone Biles. Specifically, some are saying that she is to Australia what Simone Biles is to Team USA. There’s a reason for that.
Fox’s win officially made her the most decorated K-1 canoeist in the world, breaking her tie with Spain’s Maialen Chourraut for the most Olympic medals won in the K-1 by man or woman. Like Biles, Fox isn’t the most decorated Australian Olympian of all time (that accomplishment belongs to Aussie swimmer Emma McKeon with 12 medals). But she is the most decorated in her sport.
Never one to do things by halves, Fox won gold yet again in the early hours of Thursday morning, defending her gold medal from Tokyo in the C-1. In an Instagram post just hours after her win, Jess wrote: “back to back 💛💚🥇 what a race! Historic & magical ✨ so much joy and emotion today, I left it all out there & I still can’t believe it.”
This win has more than cemented Fox’s place in the history books. She officially became Australia’s most successful individual Olympic medallist (now with six medals under her belt), surpassing Ian Thorpe, Leisel Jones, Shirley Strickland, Shane Gould, Anna Meares, and Ariarne Titmus, who all hold five each.
She is also the most decorated athlete in the history of Olympic canoe slalom, having broken her tie with Slovakia’s Michal Martikan with Thursday’s gold medal.
It’s worth noting though, that it’s also the accomplishments Fox has made outside the Olympic Games that have people calling her the GOAT. She made her Olympic debut in London in 2012, where she won silver. At just 18 years old, she became the youngest woman to ever win a medal at an Olympics.
In 2018, she became the first athlete (man or woman) to achieve the ‘triple-double’. That means she won both the C-1 and K-1 titles across three World Cup Events. This followed Jess winning a record-breaking six consecutive World Cup titles.
Excitingly, there’s potential for Fox to break yet another record in the 2024 Paris Olympics when she competes in the kayak cross event later in the Games (alongside her sister, no less).
“So much can happen when you dream, when you believe, and when you work hard,” says Jess.
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