Jessica Fox is being hailed as the Greatest of All Time, after winning gold in the canoe slalom K-1 final at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Australia’s flag-bearer for the games’ Opening Ceremony in Paris, Fox has now won Gold medal in both the C1 (in Tokyo) and now the K1 events. She has previously won silver and two bronze medals in the K-1 event. This latest win means she’s now the most decorated athlete in K-1 history.
And Fox still has the C1 event to go, where she’ll be aiming to defend her Toyko gold. Following that, Fox could pull off the truly extraordinary: winning three gold medals at one Olympic games, following the addition of the canoe cross in the 2024 Olympics program. Fox won all three of these events at a World Cup in Krakow in June. Fox already has a record 14 world titles.
Fox’s win, Australia’s fourth gold medal of the Olympics so far (currently all from women), left Fox saying she was “speechless”.
“I was really struggling to hold it together at the end,” she said post-event. “I was so proud to be able to put together a really good run when it mattered.”
Fox described realised she had won as “the most incredible moment of my life” and said she had been crying for 30 minutes due to the stress and nerves of watching the other athletes complete their runs.
Fox thanked her team and shared her gratitude.
Fox was placed with following the semi-finals, after a mistake at the 19th gate cost her a two-second penalty. The silver medalist, Ricarda Funk from Germany was on track to pull of the win, but then missed a gate in the final stages of her run, costing her a massive 50-second penalty. Watching on, Fox realised she had then won the event.
This Olympics carry additional meaning for Fox who was born in France, is representing Australia, and has her mother watching on from the sidelines, who once represented France in the same event and won a bronze medal at the Atlanta Olympics. Fox’s sister Noemi is also competing in Paris.
This is Australia’s fourth gold medal of the Paris Olympics — with all so far going to women. Grace Brown won the women’s cycling time trial, Ariarne Titmus took gold in the women’s 400m freestyle and Australia continued its dominating run in the 4 x 100m women’s freestyle relay.
Photo above: Instagram