Olympic Dream Come True: Jess Fox - Gold Medallist

Gold medallist, Jess Fox has come a long way since winning silver at the London 2012 Olympics at 18 years old. She snapped up a bronze in Rio 2016, was a celebrity contestant on Australia's Hell's Kitchen, and built a rep as one of the greatest individual paddlers of all time. 

In 2021, her Olympic dream finally came true - winning both a gold and bronze medal in Tokyo (thanks to a little hack - fixing her kayak with a condom 😲).

Year13 spoke to Jess Fox while she was on the road to her last Olympics and for nostalgic reasons and to see how far she has come, we have decided to share it with you once again. Plus, she's from my neck of the woods in Western Sydney, so, represent 🤙 we're so bloody proud.

☁️☁️☁️ Let's flashback to 2016 ☁️☁️☁️

What does an average day look like for you?

An average day is pretty busy! I’m up around 6.30 for training at 7.30-9. This is followed by a video of review of the training session where we look at technical points we can improve on, followed by a physio or massage appointment to keep my body in check! Home for lunch, quick nap (very important!) and then fit in some uni work before heading back to training in the afternoon. Between training sessions is time reserved for uni work or sponsor/ media commitments. I try and catch up with friends when I have some free time too! Evenings are reserved for uni cramming, food, detangling my afro helmet hair and chilling with the family.

What did you do to get where you are? Who inspired your journey?

I was lucky to have parents who were both high-level athletes in canoe slalom and they were the inspirations, the teachers and motivators. After trying different sports I picked up the paddle more seriously at around 11 years old. I always tried to be the first on the water, and the last one off. I loved training, loved racing and set goals for myself. I guess there was no secret - just lots of hard work, persistence and a big dream!
 

How did you learn to navigate the sporting world?

I grew up along the sides of the river when my Mum was still competing and Dad was coaching her. They later became coaches for the Australian team so I moved from the pram to playing with the rocks, in the dirt or sand and later took up the sport myself. I was surrounded by high-level athletes and coaches and grew up knowing that the ‘Olympics’ were a big thing, something special. I guess being around this high-performance environment I learnt about attitude, work ethic and persistence. One of the best things I took away from it was the power of watching others and to learn from that–being a sponge and soaking up as much information from as many people to learn as much as I could. 

What are your plans for the future? Do you have any, do you think you need any?

Yes, I think it’s super important for me, as an athlete, to have plans for life after sport. I’m in a sport where I won’t really make a good living off it, or injury could easily force me to retire, so it’s important to have something to fall back on. I’m studying a bachelor of social science online (psych and communications). I’m not really sure what I want to do after my sporting career–I’d love to stay involved in the Olympic movement through the Youth Olympic Games or work in TV … who knows!