Jessica Fox took home the gold medal in the K-1 slalom canoe final at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games on Sunday. Fox, who was one of Australia’s Flag Bearers at the Opening Ceremony on Friday, made history with the medal – it was not only her first Olympic gold in the event, but she also became the first Australian athlete to win four consecutive medals in the same event after taking home the bronze in Tokyo 2020 and Rio de Janeiro 2016, as well as the silver in London 2012. She also joins legendary Australian athletes Ian Thorpe, Leisel Jones, Shirley Strickland and Anna Meares as the only ones to win five individual Olympic medals.

Fox qualified for the event’s semifinal after finishing the heats with the fastest time of 92.18 seconds. In the semifinal, she slipped down to eighth spot with a time of 104.38 (which included a 2-second penalty), 5.07 seconds behind German Ricarda Funk who recorded 99.31 seconds, but it was enough to qualify for the 12-person final. However, in the final Fox shone, as she has done plenty of times before, taking the gold with a time of 96.08 seconds, ahead of Poland’s Klaudia Zwolinska and Great Britain’s Kimberley Woods who took the silver and bronze medals.

Fox spoke to the Australian Olympic Team website after the win, “I don’t know what it means yet, but it means everything to me right now. It’s been years and years of chasing this dream, of getting really close, of persevering and picking myself back-up and a lot of teamwork. I feel love and gratitude for everyone who has helped me to get here today, and to feel that energy from the crowd and also from everyone who was staying up late back home in Australia. I think it was just the perfect day for me. It didn’t start well, but it finished really well and it was just magical.”

Fox will now prepare for the C-1 canoe slalom event – for which she is the reigning Olympic champion – on Tuesday, followed by the kayak cross on Friday – an event making its Olympic debut in Paris, in which Fox’s sister Noemie, will also be competing for the first time.