How Noemie Fox won Australia’s greatest gold of the Paris Olympics in kayak cross

Kayak’s new demolition derby format could have been invented for a woman with a warrior spirit unleashing years of pent-up ambition. That woman is Australia’s gold medallist, Noemie Fox.

Australia's Noemie Fox competes in the women's kayak cross final of the canoe slalom competition at Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium in Vaires-sur-Marne during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games on August 5, 2024. (Photo by Bertrand GUAY / AFP)

She was never the biggest or the strongest paddler and this time at the last Olympics in Tokyo she was introducing race starters over the public address.

Such was the Eiffel Tower sized shadow cast by her iconic sister Jess that even members of Noemie Fox’s extended family would say, with no intention to offend, “so you actually do it too?’’

It’s a sentence that will never be uttered again after Noemie scored what is surely Australia’s greatest gold of this Games when she won the kayak cross, a victory for anyone had an improbable dream and somehow nailed it.

The kayak cross, where four zany paddlers are dropped into the rapids then play human pinball as they hare downstream, is the sport’s new demolition derby format and could have been invented for a girl with a warrior spirit unleashing years of pent-up ambition.

Noemie Fox’s Paris Olympics triumph is a victory for anyone had an improbable dream and somehow nailed it. Picture: AFP

Get out of my way folks. I’m coming through. I’ve earnt this. My time thanks.

Noemie Fox never publicly uttered these words. She didn’t have to.

The message in her fearless style could have been no more obvious than if she grabbed her Tokyo mike and roared it over the public address.

“I have never been so driven,’’ she said.

“It just feels surreal – I dared to dream.

“Just the thought of qualifying to the Olympics was incredibly challenging.

“Having that goal of trying to make an Olympic Games fuelled me so much, helped me train with more persistence to just really be so driven.

“And then when we got here, it was pure enjoyment. I’ve trained so hard, I knew that every single person out there, in one battle I’d beaten at least once, and that it was always possible to get through in the top two and that’s all that mattered.’’

It’s her first Olympic gold medal to go with three won by her sister and one Olympic bronze by her mother Myriam, leaving father Richard, a 10 time world champion gold medallist, to quip “I am now officially the fourth best in my family’’ as his career does not include an Olympic medal.

Tough school.

The Fox family are one of the most grounded in sport so many white water veterans took sneaky pleasure in seeing them go off tap after the victory.

Jess, attending as a spectator in what was probably the only day of her career where she went to the course not expecting to get wet, got saturated when she jumped the rapids and tearfully embraced her sister. Mother Myriam hopped in as well.

Asked whether she planned to jump in Jess said: “No but I am just so incredibly proud of what she has done over the last four months. It’s amazing.’’

Jess Fox congratulates her sister Noemie Fox after winning the women's kayak cross final. Picture: AFP

Jess looked infinitely more excited than for any gold she had won, breaking down during a television interview. Richard, wearing his lucky hat with a picture of a fox on it, stayed on dry land but was no less moved.

“It’s stunning,’’ he said, and that from a man who should be beyond being stunned after his other daughter won two golds at the same meet.

“I’m astounded but I think the way she had to qualify which was really tough shaped her performance here. She is not the biggest or the strongest but she has improved her technique.

She has transformed herself into an athlete who dominates in the arena.’’

Noemie Fox celebrates on the podium with her gold medal. Picture: AFP

Richard’s mind floated back to all those tough conversations he had to have with his daughter before the kayak cross was introduced and Australia had only one Olympic quota spot which simply had to go to Jess.

“How can I ever go to the Olympics because Jess is so good (and there’s only one spot)?’’ he recalled her saying.

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It was a question Richard knew he could not answer because he had lived the same storyline. He well remembered how his younger brother, a highly promising paddler, gave the sport away at 16 because he didn’t want to run into Richard. Sometimes the numbers just don’t add up.

“She had to go through all those phases where you think “it’s not fair.’’

“Jess has always, she’s been a machine over many years. She still had to deliver, but Noemie, she had to reinvent herself.

“So as a dad … watching her do that is the most amazing piece. Kids grow up and you want to see them do whatever they choose and own it.

“And she’s probably going to be able to tell that story for the rest of her life. I was the sister of somebody, and now I’m somebody.’’

You can say that again … over the public address if the mood takes her.

Originally published as How Noemie Fox won Australia’s greatest gold of the Paris Olympics in kayak cross