Jewish Australian Jessica Fox selected as Flag Bearer for Olympic Team

Jul 24, 2024 | Jews in Sports

Australian Olympic Team Chef de Mission, Anna Meares, announced on Wednesday that canoeist Jessica Fox and hockey veteran Eddie Oackenden will lead the team as Flag Bearers at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games Opening Ceremony on Friday.

Fox, who many consider to be Australia’s greatest Jewish athlete, is the daughter of former Olympic canoeists Richard Fox (Great Britain) and Myriam Fox-Jerusalmi (France). She was born in Marseille, France, before the family moved to Australia when she was four years old.

Jessica with her mother Myriam after winning gold in Tokyo (Jessica Fox’s Instagram)


This will be Fox’s fourth Olympic Games, having previously competed in London 2012 (where she won a silver medal in the K-1 canoe slalom event), Rio de Janeiro 2016 (where she won a bronze medal in the K-1 event) and Tokyo 2020 (where she won a gold medal in the C-1 slalom canoeing event and a bronze medal in the K-1 event). In addition to her Olympic medals, Fox has also won 22 medals at World Championships over the years, 14 of them gold.

The upcoming Games were already extra special for the infamous paddling family, with Fox’s sister, Noemie, competing in her first Olympics in the new discipline of kayak cross. But to also be named as Flag Bearer is a huge honor and privilege – especially with the unique aspect of the parade taking place on the River Seine.

Fox spoke to the Australian Olympic Team website following her selection:

“I am proud to follow in the steps of so many great Australians who have carried the flag. The Olympic Games bring us together as sports, as athletes and as a nation. And of course I am immensely proud to represent Australia in the country of my birth.

The Fox sisters together with fellow Australian canoeists Tristan Carter and Tim Anderson at the Australian Olympic Team headquarters in the Paris 2024 Olympic village (Jessica Fox’s Instagram)


“I’m so proud to be part of this team. It is one of the greatest moments of my career to be named Flag Bearer and to have the opportunity to present us to Paris & the world by leading us out in the opening ceremony.

“This is my fourth Games, and I am lucky to be competing in three events. My first race is the heats the afternoon after the Opening Ceremony, so I’ll get a sleep in. I feel this is such an honour and opportunity, that I wouldn’t miss it for the world.

“I am used to a busy schedule with racing and have worked with our team to make sure I’m as best prepared as I can be for this and have a plan in place to ensure I can be ready the next day and Anna and the AOC have been amazing as well to support that.

“It’s so exciting and of course the fact that we will be on water makes it even more attractive to me. I think using the iconic River Seine in the heart of Paris will make this a spectacular and memorable Opening Ceremony. It’s original and it’s innovative, and I can’t wait!”

The Opening Ceremony for Paris 2024 is scheduled to begin on Friday July 26 at 20:30 IDT / 13:30 EDT.

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