Champion paddler Jessica Fox can scarcely believe she is being named alongside her nation’s alltime great Olympians after creating her own piece of Australian Games history with a stunning gold in the C1.
It could hardly be more deserving.
Coming on the back of her breakthrough K1 triumph, Fox stormed to another commanding win at the Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium whitewater course on Wednesday.
The gold was Australia’s seventh of the Games.
Fox became the first Australian athlete to win six individual Olympic medals, overtaking swimmers Shane Gould, Ian Thorpe and Leisel Jones, sprinter Shirley Strickland and current chef de mission, cyclist Anna Meares, who each have five.
Ariarne Titmus also joined the elite group, winning her fifth individual in Paris.
@wideworldofsports The run that turned Jessica Fox from an Olympic champion into an Olympic LEGEND! 🙌 🖥️ #Olympics #Paris2024 | Live and free on Channel 9 and 9Now. #9WWOS ♬ original sound – Wide World of Sports
“They’ve (records) never felt attainable or even something that I could possibly dream about,” said Fox, who is also now the most prolific Olympic medal winner in her sport.
“Each Olympic experience that I’ve had has been very different – some have been brilliant, some have been a bit disappointing and this is just magical.
“But to be named amongst some of Australia’s greatest champions in Olympic history is just – I can’t quite believe it.”
The 30-year-old Sydneysider is chasing more history, seeking a golden treble in Paris as she attempts to join Gould, in 1972, as the only Australians to have won three individual gold medals at the one Olympics.
With the addition of canoe cross to the 2024 program, the France-born Fox will start hot favourite to achieve the rare feat on Monday.
Already the most successful female canoe slalom athlete of all-time, Fox now owns three gold, a silver and two bronze from four Olympic campaigns after making her debut in London 2012.
Like her emphatic victory in Tokyo, when C1 was added to the program, Fox swept the field.
Germany’s former world champion Elena Lilik set the pace, stopping the clock on her clean run at 103.54 seconds.
Second last on the course, Fox produced a sizzling run, with a time of 101.06 seconds including a two-second penalty for clipping a gate.
She knew immediately she’d done something special, slamming the water with her hands in delight.
“I was just proud of that run … I felt like I did my best today,” Fox said.
“I can’t wait to watch the video … those kayak and canoe runs were runs that I was really proud of.
“I think it was the mental state that I was in, how calm I felt despite the pressure, despite the expectation, despite the time that Elena Lilik had put down, which was two seconds faster than the semi-final time, which was already quite fast.
“To be able to stay composed is the coolest feeling as an athlete – when you’ve worked so hard at training, to be able to pull it off when it matters.
“That’s what we all work towards for that one day every four years.”
When her victory was confirmed after the last competitor Czech Gabriela Satkova completed her run, Fox was swamped by her mother and coach Myriam Fox-Jerusalmi and her younger sister Noemie, who will compete in the kayak cross.
Young American Evy Leibfarth took bronze with a time of 109.95 seconds.
