Olympic gold medalist Jessica Fox’s former school teacher tells all as Blaxland High celebrate champion alumna

Blaxland High PE teacher Leanne Talbot coached Jess Fox - an all-rounder who pursued academia and the creative arts alongside her sporting career - through her HSC. She couldn’t be prouder.

Students at Blaxland High School in the Blue Mountains celebrate former pupils Jess and Noemie Fox. Picture: Justin Lloyd

The students of Blaxland High School knew the end result before they even walked through the school gates on Monday, yet still they held their breath as they watched alumna and world number one paddler Jess Fox claim gold.

The Blue Mountains school has been right behind their former students Jess and Noemie since long before these Games got underway, cheering on the Fox sisters as best the time difference between here and Paris will allow on a school night.

It was no ordinary whole-school assembly on Monday morning, with a special presentation of Jess Fox’s nailbiting kayak slalom race thrown up on the big screen. Students watched on as Jess took the first-place chair, and could only empathise with the Olympian’s anxious wait to see if her time would hold up against her competitors.

Several tense minutes later and the verdict was in – it was gold for Australia, and Blaxland High cheered.

Principal Emma Le Marquand said while the time zones have made celebrating in the moment “very difficult” – “with Tokyo we were able to have watch parties” – the K1 victory represents an important lesson for students in perseverance.

Olympian Jess Fox hits the finish line in the 2024 Paris Olympics K1 slalom final - and wins the gold. Picture: Michael Klein

“There’s this huge pressure of expectation on her (Jess),” Ms Le Marquand said.

“How she handles the expectation – sitting in the gold medal position chair while the others go through – she sets a great example.”

Blaxland High School seniors Chelsea Brown, Adelaide Foreman, Rosemary Oxley, Matilda Horrex-Barnet, Lachlan Henderson, Logan Dixon, and Ania Bestley, celebrate Jess Fox's first gold medal of the Paris Olympics. Picture: Justin Lloyd

Blaxland High PE teacher Leanne Talbot taught Jess Fox in the early 2010s, and said the paddler was “a pleasure to teach” – an all-rounder who pursued academia and the creative arts alongside her sporting prowess.

“During Year 11 and 12 she was travelling overseas for world meets and all of that kind of thing … so we basically did (the HSC) by email. If she couldn’t do her schoolwork, I knew it was because she didn’t have any internet,” Ms Talbot said.

For the teacher of 40 years, Fox’s Olympic career does “not really” come as a surprise, “purely beause of her work ethic”.

“Our school motto is ‘effort earns success’, and if she isn’t the embodiment of that, I don’t know what is,” she said.

“How could you not be proud?”

Jess Fox with her first ever K1 gold medal, on the podium. Picture: Michael Klein

The win could be the first of up to three gold medals for Jess who will be vying for her second in the C1 canoe slalom, with heats to begin Tuesday. She’ll be up against blood in the water for the third, with both sisters to duke it out in the new kayak cross event.

Senior students Rosemary Oxley and Rhys Camilleri admit they’re not the most likely of their peers to be following in the Fox sisters’ wake, but they’re both avid fans left awe-struck by the Olympic champions who walked the hallways before them – and still do, with Jess Fox known to frequent the school’s biennial musical productions.

“I can speak on behalf of a lot of my sporty friends that seeing Jess and Noemie is really inspiring,” Rhys said.

“I knew Jess had won gold before the school assembly but it was still really exciting to watch – it was a real eye-opener, that someone that sat exactly where we sat can achieve something so amazing.”