Just like in the word game she used to calm her mind between races, Jessica Fox needed a few attempts to get it right.
But competing in her fourth Olympics, the champion paddler found the run she needed to clinch an elusive K1 gold medal, which she described as a dream come true.
She won silver in the event in London in 2012 as an 18-year-old and then bronze in the last two Games and while Fox became Olympic canoe champion in Tokyo, kayak gold was what she desired most.
“It’s been years and years of chasing this dream, of getting really close, of persevering and picking myself back up, of a lot of teamwork and love and gratitude for everyone who’s helped me to get here,” Fox said, with the gold medal draped around her neck.
“It was just the perfect day for me – it didn’t start well, but it finished really well and it was just magical.”
The Paris gold didn’t come easy with the K1 world champion only qualifying for the final with the eighth-fastest time.
That meant Fox was fifth down the course rather than last which is reserved for the quickest in the 12-athlete field – Tokyo Games champion Ricarda Funk from Germany.
She tried to put that uncharacteristic run aside.
“I just had to chill out, I watched the video for about 20 minutes and then did the Wordle of the day and tried to switch off,” she said.
“You never know how you’re going to feel for an Olympic final, there’s so much intensity and pressure.”
The 30-year-old absorbed that pressure and laid down a superb error-free run on the tricky course on Sunday afternoon at the Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium.
Stopping the clock at 96.08 seconds, it was clear she had produced something special with her mother and coach Myriam Fox-Jerusalmi punching the air with delight.
Her sister Noemie, who will compete in the kayak cross later in the week, jumped for joy, hugging other members of the Australian contingent.
Fox then faced a nervous wait as the remaining paddlers went down the course.
Poland’s Klaudia Zwolinska collected silver with a time of 97.53 while Great Britain’s Kimberley Woods won the bronze medal in 98.94.
Funk was closest to Fox at the halfway point, but her challenge ended when she incurred a 50-second time penalty for missing the fourth-last gate.
Fox was embraced by her mum, who herself won K1 bronze in 1996 competing for France.
In a fitting touch for Marseille-born Fox, the Paris medals contain a sliver of the Eiffel Tower.
“I think I just sobbed and she said, ‘You did it, you finally did it,” Fox said.
“Seeing her so emotional made me really emotional, it was just an incredible moment to share together.”
The Australian flag bearer is chasing an unprecedented three gold medals at the Paris Games, with the kayak slalom her first event in the whitewater program.
As well as the breakthrough K1 victory, Fox will defend her C1 crown and also chase gold in the kayak cross which is a new addition to the Olympic line-up in Paris.
