French-born Aussie Fox on hunt for rare Olympic feat (2024)

Australia's Jessica Fox could emerge as one of the stars of the Paris Olympics. Photo: Dan Himbrechts/AAP PHOTOS

She's beautiful, bilingual and above all the best slalom canoeist in the world and Jessica Fox could become Australia's biggest star of the Paris Olympics.

With the addition of canoe cross to the 2024 program, the France-born Fox will start hot favourite to achieve the rare feat of winning three gold medals at the one Games.

While eight swimmers have done so, including Emma McKeon (who won four in Tokyo three years ago) and Kaylee McKeown (three in Tokyo), the only other Australian athletes to have won three at a single Olympics are swimmer Shane Gould in 1972 and athletics great Betty Cuthbert.

The late sprint sensation won gold in the 100 metres, 200 metres and the 4x100m relay 68 years ago at the Melbourne Olympics.

What sets Fox apart is that she would join Gould as Australian athletes to win three individual gold medals at a single Games, rather than having relay gold in the mix.

Fox is the reigning Olympic champion in the C1 (canoe) while she has also won silver and two bronze medals in the K1 (kayak) over three Games.

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Winning gold in the K1 at last year's world championships in London, she has a record 14 world titles to her name including the 2022 crown in the new kayak cross discipline.

The Sydneysider proved the golden treble was possible at a World Cup in Krakow in June, becoming the first athlete to win three individual gold medals over a single weekend.

"I was super proud with how I raced," Fox said.

"Never could have imagined I would finish up with three golds but I built into the weekend and sort of found the feeling.

"The K1 race went really well and I was stoked to put down a clean run and feel that boost of confidence and then building off that in the canoe and then finishing off with the kayak cross.

"So three from three was the perfect result."

In the kayak cross in Paris, Fox will compete against her younger sister Noemie who is making her Olympic debut.

The pair hope they aren't drawn in the same four-person heat, with competitors launched off a steep ramp into the water in the frenetic new format.

They can use their paddles to thwart rivals, jostling for position down the course while kayakers must also complete a full 360 degree eskimo roll before crossing the finish line.

While Fox has strong results in the event she said the head-to-head nature made the outcome more unpredictable.

"The kayak and the canoe, they've been my pet events for so many years," she said.

"I know that anything can happen in the kayak cross – yes, I've won the last race but I could also be out in the first round of the next race, it's just so dependent on how the race unfolds, your decision making and a little bit of luck as well.

"But definitely coming into Paris now with those results that I've had and the experience that I've had, I've definitely got more confidence in the kayak cross."

Coached by her French mother Myriam Fox-Jerusalmi, who won bronze at the Atlanta Olympics, the host nation are catching onto the possible golden feats of Fox.

Born in Marseille, the 30-year-old feels very much at home in France and moved her training base to Paris after Poland.

She said she felt a growing interest from the French in her prospects.

While she also has a British-born father Richard Fox, who finished fourth at the Barcelona Olympics before going on to become a successful national coach, Fox said her loyalty lay firmly with Australia but she's happy to be embraced by the locals.

"If it happens it's a very green and yellow Aussie gold medal," she said.

"The French have definitely picked up that I'm the Frenchest of the Aussies, let's say, or the most Aussie of the French people they know and the media are showing a bit more interest.

"But it's lovely to have some extra support as well, I know I'll have some friends and family from France in the crowd.

"It feels different but it doesn't feel overwhelming in a sense."