Jessica Fox took home her second gold medal of the Paris Olympic Games on Tuesday when she successfully defended her Olympic title in the C-1 canoe slalom event. It’s another historical moment for Fox, who was one of Australia’s Flag Bearers at the Opening Ceremony last week and won the K-1 slalom canoe event earlier this week, becoming the first Australian athlete to win four consecutive medals in the same event.
Fox had the second-fastest time in the heats with 100.05 seconds, slightly behind Czech Gabriela Satkova with 99.44 seconds. The two maintained their positions in the semifinal, with Satkova’s 105.55 putting her ahead of Fox’s 106.08. However in the final, Fox’s time of 101.06 (which included a 2-second penalty) gave her a big victory, with German’s Elena Lilik (103.54) and the USA’s Evy Leibfarth (109.95) rounding out the podium.
The win gives Fox back-to-back titles in the event, but she also now becomes the only Australian athlete to win six individual Olympic medals, ahead of other legendary Australian athletes Ian Thorpe, Leisel Jones, Shirley Strickland and Anna Meares, who have won five individual medals.
Fox’s parents, former Olympians Richard Fox (who also coaches his daughter) and Myriam Fox-Jerusalmi, spoke with Australia’s Nine Network after the win.
“I think it’s the most remarkable thing she’s ever done,” her father said. “And I think those in the sport will see it hopefully in the same light.”
“In the sport of canoe slalom, she won’t be beaten by anybody any time soon,” Fox-Jerusalmi said of her daughter’s achievement in the sport. “The women are the ones that do the double category [kayaking and canoeing], you won’t see a lot of guys with double category. Extremely proud of what she delivered today because that was the mental effort more than anything else.”
Fox herself also spoke after the win: “To be able to stay composed is the coolest feeling as an athlete; when you’ve worked so hard in training to be able to pull it off when it matters. That’s what we all work towards, for that one day every four years and the fact that I did it twice is a credit to the hard work that we’ve put in and the whole team has put into me and I’m so grateful to them.”
Fox will now prepare for her final event on Friday, the kayak cross, where she will compete against fellow Australian and younger sister Noemie, who is making her Olympic debut.
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