Tokyo Olympics: Jessica Fox sets ambitious goal of two gold medals

Jessica Fox says her Tokyo chase for dual Olympic gold medals has been boosted by an unlikely source — her Aussie teammates in the pool.

Amanda Lulham

@amandalulham

3 min read

July 26, 2021 - 5:21PM

News Corp Australia Sports Newsroom

Olympics

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Jessica Fox is looking to Australian teammates from other sports for extra motivation as she chases the first of two gold medals on Tuesday.

Fox said the stunning performance of the women’s gold medal winning 4x100m relay swim team is inspiring her as she prepares for finals day in the K1 event in Tokyo.

“It was beautiful to see them achieve their dream and is inspiring me for my own,” Fox told News Corp.

Fox’s day off on Monday involved her heading back to the Kasai canoe slalom centre to check out the new configuration of the course for the semi-finals, cheering on teammate Dan Watkins in the C1, some stretching and relaxing in front of the TV watching other sports.

Jessica Fox is going for gold on Tuesday.

“I’m looking forward to it,” she said of the final.

“I feel like I am in good shape technically and physically.”

Fox, who made her Olympic debut when just 18 back in 2012, finished as the leading paddler after the heats to take the No. 1 ranking into Tuesday’s semi-finals.

She appeared calm, collect and polished despite a lead-in hindered by Covid isolation from European racing and recent flooding near her home at the base of the Blue Mountains in Sydney but expressed surprise that she had recorded the fastest time of the day.

“It wasn’t the goal. The goal was to paddle freely and enjoy that second run, knowing I had done enough for the first run, so I felt really good. A bonus was improving the time,’’ Fox said.’’

Fox said she, like all her rivals, has been feeling the effects of a physical course and high temperatures which have seen athletes pour water over themselves from a giant hose at the end of each run before rushing to put on ice vests or jump into ice baths.

“I am tired. It is a physical course and in this weather, in this heat, my heart rate soars. It is a physically demanding race with the weather conditions and the water being so warm, so it is just about taking it step by step and run by run.”

Australia's Jessica Fox competes in the women's kayak heat.

Fox said she has been religious in doing everything right in her pre and post race preparations.

“It is like a bath. It is like paddling in bathwater,’’ she said.

“It is beautiful, it is an amazing venue, but the water is really quite warm, so it is all about the ice baths and the ice towels and as much ice as possible.’’

The Penrith athletes is hoping to add gold to the silver she won in London and the bronze in Rio.

She will then turn her attention to winning a historic gold in the new C1 women’s class.

Fox is coached by her mother Myriam, a multiple world championship winning paddler herself who won bronze at the Atlanta Olympics in 1996.

Her father Richard was a top British paddler and also a multiple world champion in the sport

Jess Fox is dreaming of double gold.

FOX SETS AMBITIOUS TOKYO GOAL OF DUAL GOLD

She’s gregarious, popular and welcome most anywhere.

Soon Jessica Fox could also see the door to one of sport’s most exclusive clubs swing open to her.

The Penrith paddler, now at her third Olympics after a Beijing Games debut at just 18, is chasing a rare piece of history in Japan — two individual gold medals at the one Olympics.

Success will gain her entry to a club whose first member joined 125 years ago and its last one raced into the exalted company in 2008.

Jess Fox trains in Tokyo.

In Tokyo Fox is competing in both the C1 and the K1 races, giving her the opportunity to bring home two golds for the first time.

The Penrith paddler was part of a push for gender equity in her sport with the women’s C1 event now appearing for the first time on the Olympic program

And its debut means Fox can bid for individual gold medals – a feat just 10 Australians achieved in the past.

“I dream of those two golds, it’s a dream scenario,’’ Fox told News Corp.

“This one is so special because of the C1 event, to be part of this historic moment is going to be very special no matter what because it will honour the girls who fought so hard for this.’’

If Fox achieve her ‘dream” goal her name will be penned alongside the greats of Australian sport — swimmers Ian Thorpe, Shane Gould, Fred Lane, Murray Rose, Michael Wenden and Stephanie Rice, cyclist Ryan Bayley and athletics stars Edwin Flack, Marjorie Jackson and Betty Cuthbert.