Golden girl Jessica Fox will be back to defend her C1 crown in Paris, having already tested out the 2024 Olympic whitewater course en route to Tokyo.
Winning an emotional gold in the C1 as well as bronze in the K1 this week to go with a bronze and silver medal in that event from Rio and London, Fox is already the most successful female canoe slalom athlete of all-time.
But the 27-year-old said she’s not done yet, committing to compete in the double in Paris in three years time.
“I was actually at the Paris Olympic course before coming to Tokyo, it was part of my preparation, because it is an Olympic venue and I wanted to see what it looked like, if there was similarities to Tokyo,” Fox said.
“So it was good to actually get there and I’m definitely, definitely still hungry to keep going for another three years.”
Born in France to a French mother Myriam Fox-Jerusalmi, a former Olympic medallist who is also her coach, Fox is at home in Europe, and will head there from Tokyo rather than back to Sydney.
With her father Richard Fox, also a multiple canoe slalom champion, back in Sydney working as an Olympics television commentator, Jessica shared her triumph with her mother.
“Both my parents have been hugely influential, I mean I wouldn’t probably be in the sport if it wasn’t for them,” Fox said.
“Mum’s just amazing – she’s the most motivated, determined passionate woman I’ve ever met and inspires me every day.”
While Fox’s lofty position in history is already assured, she’s unlikely to be challenged as a double medallist at the same Games, according to her dad.
The other medallists in the K1 didn’t enter the C1 event, which was only added to the Olympic program in Tokyo.
“It’s getting harder and harder because the specialists, that’s all they do,” he said.
“Jess has got to train in the kayak and in the canoe and when you get limited training time you’ve really got to make the most of it.
“A few of them do it but not many.”
AAP
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