Australia’s Olympic flag-bearer Jess Fox has started her Paris 2024 run with a gold medal in the canoe slalom K-1 final — the first of three events she’s competing in this Olympics.
30-year-old Fox recorded a time of 92.18s to win her first gold in the kayak discipline, and Australia’s fourth gold of Paris 2024.
“I’m speechless,” Fox said after the sensational win.
“I was really struggling to hold it together at the end.
“I was so proud to be able to put together a really good run when it mattered.
“My team has really helped me put it together and I am very grateful for everything they have done for me.”
@pedestriantv Australia’s golden gal #JessFox finally wins gold and we’re sobbing 😭😭😭 — catch every moment of #Paris2024 and the #Olympics on @Channel 9 and @9Now ♬ original sound – PEDESTRIAN.TV
The event is a time-trial, which means Fox had to anxiously watch alongside her family as other competitors raced.
“I’ve been crying for the last 30 minutes,” she told Channel 9 in a post-race interview. “I was crying of stress and nerves sitting there.”
Fox’s dad, Richard Fox (also an Olympic canoeist who previously represented Great Britain) watched on from the commentary box where he somehow managed to keep his cool.
“I’m immensely, immensely proud of Jess,” he told Channel 9 after the race.
Her mum — who previously represented France and won bronze in the event in Atlanta in 1996 — said the “wait was bloody long” while watching the other kayakers.
This isn’t her first Olympic gold (she won the C1 at Tokyo 2020) but this is her first Olympic victory in the kayak, which was a long time coming after securing the silver in 2012, and two bronzes in 2016 and 2020.
The win is particularly special for Fox, whose previous Olympic gold was awarded without crowds in Tokyo. To make it even more sweet, the French-born athlete is competing in Paris alongside her sister Noemie Fox, who will make her debut alongside Jess in the kayak cross event.
Jess is the hot favourite for all three of the events she is competing in, so this may not be the last gold medal we see around her neck in Paris.
Fox’s focus will now turn to the canoe, with the women’s C-1 heats beginning at 11pm on Tuesday. You can tune into the C-1, and the rest of the Olympics on Channel 9 and 9Now.
The post Aussie Jess Fox Has Won Gold In Her First Of Three Paris 2024 Events & Her Dad Commentated It appeared first on PEDESTRIAN.TV .
