Kayaking
Whether she’s canoeing or kayaking, Jess Fox is a versatile all-rounder who knows how to paddle her way to the biggest titles – get to know her career story here.
She has a cabinet full of world titles and multiple Olympic medals, but Australia’s top paddler isn’t done yet.
"A bit intense but also wonderful." That’s how the greatest paddler of all time, Jess Fox, describes her childhood growing up at the foot of the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney, with her parents and younger sister, Noemie.
Her parents had had their own successful careers in paddling - mum Myriam Fox-Jerusalmi won bronze at the 1996 Games for her home country of France, and dad Richard Fox won five individual and five team World Championships for Great Britain. In 1998, the pair packed up their life in Marseilles and moved to Sydney with their two young daughters to coach the Australian canoe slalom team ahead of the 2000 Games.
As Myriam and Richard put the Australian team through their paces on the Nepean River, Jess and Noemie would head down after school and spend their time on the sidelines doing their homework and playing on the rocks while they waited for their parents to finish training. That is, until they were old enough to pick up a paddle themselves.
I've had two more Games under my belt since London, so I know how it all works
“I think I was about 13 to 15 or 16 when it got the most intense, in that there was that expectation,” she says. “My parents had been really good in the sport, so what was I going to be? Was I going to be good? Was I going to be average? Was I ever going to make it?”
Now nearly 30, the answer to those questions couldn’t be more obvious. Whichever way you look at it, she has made it by winning 38 World Cup gold medals, nine World Championship titles, silver at London 2012, bronze Rio 2016 and gold and bronze in Tokyo.
01
An Australian in Paris
This year in Paris, Fox will be lining up at the starting gate for not one but three different events: kayak, canoe and kayak cross.
The 2024 Games will be her fourth time at the Games, having made her debut at the 2012 Games in London at just 18 years old.
“I qualified in February 2012, and that's when I started to realise I was going to the Olympics, I was about to achieve a childhood dream,” she says. “For me, it was all about soaking in the experience, being in the village, going to the opening ceremony and then just trying to compete the best that I could, not really having expectations for a medal.
"I knew I could probably make the final and once I was in the final, it was like well, let's just see how we go.”
Fox not only made it into the final, she also came home with a medal - a silver in the K1 event. That win made her the youngest woman in canoe slalom to ever medal at the Games.
The desire is still there to push myself to see how good I can be, to push the sport and elevate the standard and the level of women in my sport
Now Fox will be one of the more experienced members of the Australian team, but she hasn’t lost any of the excitement of being on the international stage competing against the world’s best.
“Now coming into Paris, I've had two more Games under my belt since London, so I know how it all works. [In London] I was this young, wide-eyed kid, admiring athletes I looked up to, and now it's kind of the opposite," she says.
"There are younger athletes coming into the team who look up to me, and I'm one of the experienced athletes who's more of a role model and can share my experience with the other athletes. The roles are a bit different now in this Olympic team, but it's still a really special feeling to be heading there. There's still the same preparation, the same nerves, the same excitement. In a way it's very different, but some things stay the same.”
This year, Fox will also have her French family and friends in the stands - some of them watching her race live for the first time - and is excited to have crowds back again.
02
All eyes on women’s sport
The other force spurring her on this year is the wave of support for women’s sport, which became a tsunami during last year’s Women’s World Cup.
“We've got such an incredible breadth of female athletes who are just killing it," she says. "Whether it's in individual Olympic sports or action sports or team sport athletes, our female teams and individual athletes are just doing so well and I love to see it.”
“I think [the World Cup] really primed people to open their minds to [women’s sport] a little bit more and to realise what an incredible spectacle it can be, and the performances that female athletes can give when they've got the backing and the support and the opportunity to do so. It's really starting to build momentum.”
Watch this video to learn how she deals with the pressure of coming from a family of athletes:
03
Training days
Closer to home in Australia, Fox has no shortage of inspiration to draw from - even in her own family. Her mum, Myriam, has been her coach since day one, and sister, Noemie, is her training partner. Their home base is the Penrith Whitewater Stadium, not far from where they grew up playing after school, but these days Fox also trains all over the world.
“We’re on training camp in Paris at the moment, so it’s quite intense," she says. "Training is twice a day, sometimes three times, on the white water honing our technical skills and getting familiar with the venue. Every course is different around the world, and for the Games, this venue has got some unique features that require a bit of work.”
During training, Fox splits her time between the kayak, canoe and kayak cross (making sure not to overdo the kayak cross to minimise the risk of injury in this brutal head-to-head form of the sport). Between white water sessions, she’s in the gym for strength training, at the physio, stretching or bunkering down for a video review. But being at the top of your game isn’t just about physical strength - mental strength is just as important.
“It’s like a muscle, working on your mindset and working on your mental strength," she explains. "For me, it's been fairly organic throughout my career in that I had a race process that seemed to suit me and my style, my mental health has been fairly good and I’m grateful to not have had major mental health issues.
“I think part of that was being happy in doing what I was doing on the water and having a balanced life, because I think when you're putting everything into your sport and then suddenly it's not going well, that's when [you start to ask] ‘What's your identity? Is that just tied in with your sport?’ Those questions start coming up.”
Honing her mindset has involved reading books, listening to podcasts and working with people like elite performance coach, Nam Baldwin.
04
Race mode
Having been at so many start lines throughout her career, Fox has got her race day routine nailed. In the morning, she’ll eat a pretty plain and simple breakfast, then listen to music or journal if she needs to get herself in the right mindset. She gets to the course about two hours before the race and walks the course with her coach to map out the race plan. And although every course is different, her warm-up routine is similar each time, incorporating visualisation and breath work as the minutes tick down to her race. As for pre-race superstitions, you won’t find too many of them here.
“I try to not be too superstitious, but that still does creep in sometimes,” she explains. “Like if I've had a race already and it didn't go well, I won't wear the same gear. I’m like, ‘Those shorts have bad juju!’ But in terms of whether I need to kiss my right bicep then my left – no, I don't do any of that.”
05
What’s next?
With so many achievements under her belt, anyone would be forgiven for thinking that Fox will be ready to put the kayak away when she gets home from Paris later this year. But this champion has her sights set on another goal - the World Championships at home in Penrith next year.
“For me, it’ll be seeing how I feel after Paris, whether I want to compete in the last races of the season or whether I want to have a little break and come back fresh for next year's World Champs," she says. "It’s my home course and it'll be really special to race in front of a home crowd and have that support and energy.”
One thing’s for sure - that crowd’s going to have a front row seat to pure sporting excellence, as the greatest individual paddler of all-time continues to strive for new heights.
“I get asked a fair bit how I'm still motivated to keep going when I've achieved what I have and what I dreamed of, which was winning world titles and winning the Olympic Games," she concludes.
"I wasn't sure how I'd feel after I achieved those things, but I think what it's shown me is that the desire is still there to push myself to see how good I can be, to push the sport and elevate the standard and the level of women in my sport.”
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