Craddock: Jessica Fox’s rare and special Olympics win is bigger than her sport

Jess Fox has a story like no other, and her historic win will soon vault her into the same air as Perkins and Thorpe, as sponsors line up to nab Australia’s Olympic hero, writes Robert Craddock.

She is the girl with a golden paddle and a story like no other, one which will soon change the landscape of Australia sport.

Australia’s French born canoeing great Jess Fox is in demand. Fans are infatuated by her. Big sponsors are lining up at her door.

When she signs – or re-signs – a fresh batch of sponsorship deals after the Games, Fox’s win in the K1 slalom here on Sunday will take Olympic sponsorships back to the heady days when Kieren Perkins and Ian Thorpe earned mega-bucks before the market shrunk to half its size after the Global Financial Crisis.

Fox would never see it this way but she is bigger than her sport. It’s not even close. This is a very rare and special story.

Brought to you by

Jessica Fox claimed that elusive gold in Paris. (Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)

Fox, already sponsored by Toyota and Red Bull, doesn’t paddle for money but there is no doubt the win will have a multimillion-dollar dividend.

Her manager Josh White from Always Human was in the stands to see her victory. He would not comment on specific dollar amounts but did concede the medal would take her into a new orbit.

“There really has been a lot of interest in Jess and it goes to the next level with a gold medal win,’’ White said.

“We are talking to a couple of big brand partners after the Games. And to existing ones because some sponsorships tend to be multi-year one during the Olympic period which expire after the Games.

“Then of course there are bonuses (for medal wins). Things have really taken off for athletes who are credible and women athletes are getting a lot more interest.’’

Fox’s win was dripping with flavoursome storylines. Her French born mother and coach Myriam chased gold in this event but Olympic bronze was the best she could do.

Such was the box office nature of Fox’s race that a group of middle-aged Australian officials were seen galloping over vacant land outside the venue in a desperate attempt to see her – and that was just the semi-final.

Yet for all the cheering of a crowd which celebrated her French connection, all the drama of having to wait for seven paddlers to come after her, and, finally, the raw emotion which left her speechless when she claimed her heart’s desire, she never let the victory run away with her.

Fox has almost outgrown her sport. (Photo by Alex Davidson/Getty Images)

When she looked up in the press room and saw her father Richard she quietly said “oh hi’’ gave him a quick hug and an even quicker selfie. But there was no sense either of them was about to do a cartwheel.

That’s the Fox family. Sincere, unpretentious and grounded. Richard would have loved his daughter’s reaction because his mantra is don’t get too high or too low – just move on.

Fox has been a star of these Games and her profile will spiral to stratospheric heights if she wins her next two events, the last of which is where she could confront her younger sister Noemie in the kayak cross.

Some athletes tremble at the thought of pressure. Like Ariarne Titmus, Fox sprinkles it on her corn flakes and consumes it with a smile one spoonful at a time.

Brought to you by

She was the flag-bearer for these Games for Australia but, from making hearts to the French crowd after her races, to regular public appearances, she has thrived on the challenges. Or at least tries to.

“I think, yeah, it’s more I have to, otherwise it’s easy to feel overwhelmed and feel oppressed by maybe the magnitude,’’ she said.

“Tokyo was huge for that for me, because it was the first time I really felt that much pressure and expectation.

“And so coming into Paris, I think I was expecting that. And so it was about leaning into it, embracing that and yeah, I think there’s good energy to be found when you use it as fuel.”

Fox’s role as one of the flag-bearers at this Games solidified her standing in Australian sport. (Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)

Fox was favourite for the gold medal but watching her cascade down the rapids in her flawless final performance, at times tossed around like a single sock in a clothes dryer, was to appreciate that this is a sport where nothing is certain.

Richard Fox reckons that Jess may have inherited her competitive fire from her mother and her planning from him and wonders how much slipped in by osmosis when she was a baby in the back of the car and mum and dad were talking white water in the front.

Disneyland Paris is only 22 kilometres away from where Fox stood on the podium to select a gold medal in an event which gave her a cruel bronze in Tokyo, another bronze in Rio (2016) and a silver in London (2012).

But Fox has now no reason to visit Disneyland … her fantasyland is now reality.

Originally published as Craddock: Jessica Fox’s rare and special Olympics win is bigger than her sport