How Good Is Jessica Fox

Talk about a paddling pedigree. The Fox name was renowned in the kayaking/canoeing world well before young Jessica came along: mother Myriam represented France and was a dual world champion and Olympic bronze medalist, while father Richard represented Great Britain and was a ten-time world champ (five K1 golds, five K1 team golds). With those kind of genes in her blood, it might’ve seemed inevitable that this bright young talent was bound to be a star. “I was in a kayak basically as soon as I knew how to walk,” Fox recalls. “On the weekend, my parents would take us paddling and when we went on holidays the kayaks came too. It’s very much the family sport.”

But Fox didn’t necessarily want to follow her parents’ example and fuelled her evident competitive streak at a young age through swimming and gymnastics. It was the latter that made her move back to the sport her parents loved so much.

“Back in 2005, I broke my arm doing gymnastics and my physiotherapist told me it would be good rehab to do some kayaking again, and I’ve stayed ever since.”

Despite her parents’ nationalities, and the fact she was born in Marseille in France, Fox only ever had her eyes set on representing Australia. “I grew up in this country and always wanted to represent Australia since first seeing it in the Olympics ... It has always been a dream – and now it’s become reality.”

WHAT’S HER STORY?

Living at Leonay at the foot of the Blue Mountains in Sydney’s west has been instrumental in the development of Fox’s paddling career: her home is just ten minutes’ drive away from what is considered one of the best whitewater venues in the world, the Penrith Olympic facility.

Fox’s breakthrough in the sport came in 2008 when she travelled to New Zealand with a development group – and first realised how good she might be. In 2009, Fox was just 14 when she made her first junior national side. In 2010, she won Junior World Championships in France in both the K1 and C1 events, the first time that feat has ever been accomplished. It was then off to Singapore for the Youth Olympics, where she took out gold in the K1 event.

“I began making a bit of a name for myself – not just being known as the daughter of the Foxs. They were really well-known in kayaking, but they’re now known as my parents,” Fox laughs. She has subsequently climbed rapidly through the senior ranks and by February 2012 showed she’s a world-class competitor by qualifying for the Olympic Games.

WHO’S SHE LIKE?

Fox’s biggest influences are obviously her parents, but expert eyes recognise she has a unique style. High performance coach Yann le Pennec says: “If she reminds me of anyone, it will be one of the other really successful athletes like Slovakian Michal Martikan, who went to the Olympics as a junior in 1996. Jessica is following the same pathway with her early success.”

Pennec resists reminding us that Martikan won gold at those Games, obviously not wanting to heap too much pressure on his youthful charge. But this is a talent that could do anything.

What do they say?