Jessica and Noemie Fox into next round of 2024 Paris Olympics kayak cross
The Fox sisters have both qualified through to the next round of the craziest new sport in the Olympics. You fall, you ram, you roll. Welcome to kayak cross where a sisterly bond means nothing.
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Welcome to the most unusual fox hunt of all ... where one fox hunts the other.
Watching one kayak bob like a loose cork along the fierce white water rapids of Nautical Stadium is hell-raising enough.
Watching four of them try to out scramble each other in a new competition called the kayak cross is a truly compelling spectacle … especially when two of them are sisters.
Not just any sisters but the Fox girls, Jess and Noemie, whose journeys are strikingly similar in some ways yet as different as fire and ice.
Both sisters took part in the sport’s demolition derby in separate races on Saturday, both making it through to the opening heats on Monday morning (AEST) without having to head into the repechage.
Conserving energy is particularly important for Jess, who has had a mammoth program so far, while Noemie looked like an athlete champing at the bit for her chance to compete after spending the opening week of the competition on the sidelines.
That rest could play into the Fox cub’s hands. They are not certain to meet but if it does it will be every Fox for themselves.
“I think it’s understanding that at the end of the day, I’m an individual competitor for Australia in this race that I’ve been waiting for my whole life and, and I don’t think I’ll be letting anyone go in front of me easily, or overtake me easily, even if that’s my sister,” Noemie said.
Jess, the three-time Olympic gold medallist is the steely competitor who exudes confidence and don’t-mess-with-me attitude.
Noemie is, by her own admission, a more nervous athlete.
But it was Jess who conceded she had plenty of nerves at the top of the kayak cross course, having to accept that in this race, everything is not always in the athlete’s control.
No matter how great the potential anxiety of seeing one daughter face off against each other may be their father Richard knows one thing - it’s infinitely better than having one of them not there.
Noemie missed the Tokyo Games when Australia could select just one athlete and we all knew who that would be.
“I suppose the challenge was Noemie was the victim of a sister who excelled and that closed doors for her,” Richards said.
“What was good she got over the ”it’s not fair‘’ feeling to “I am the only one who could change that‘’ and she owned her journey.
“From last September she made it her mission to get to the Games and was open and transparent about that and people got on board and supported her. ”It was a really good lesson in taking responsibility for your performance and being comfortable with your performance.“
The cross is the demolition derby of the paddle world. The Hunger Games of whitewater sports. May the odds be ever in your favour.
As if negotiating rapids alone does not offer enough entertainment, kayak cross is a shameless ploy to attract fans, television rights and eyeballs to paddle sports - and a clever ploy at that.
But there’s nothing straightforward about reaching the pointy end of competition.
“The odds were stacked against her,” Richard said of Noemie qualifying for the Games.
“You have 40 athletes on the starting line. You could easily be one of the best athletes and be knocked out on a fault. It was a great relief when she qualified ... a great achievement in human endeavour. We are really proud of her.
“It’s a bit of a pinch yourself feeling because she has always been in the shadow and here she is with her own identity. So many people relate to that journey and that challenge. She has been very open about sharing that. It’s wonderful.‘’
Like all fathers, Fox has already worked one worst case scenario if they both make the final.
“The way it works it is a four boat final which means no matter what happens in the final one of them will get to come away with a medal. There’s a long way to go and hopefully they don’t knock each other out on the way.”
Originally published as Jessica and Noemie Fox into next round of 2024 Paris Olympics kayak cross
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