Fox sisters aiming for Paris Olympic kayak double
Noemie Fox’s biggest rival might become her biggest weapon with the slalom kayaker working with her superstar big sister Jessica Fox to achieve her Olympic dream.
Noemie Fox of Australia in action during the women’s C1 of the Canoe Slalom World Cup in Krakow, southern Poland, 19 June 2022. EPA/Lukasz Gagulski
The pair are part of Australia’s canoe/kayak elite, who will have their final hit-out in home water at the Australian Open which gets underway at the Penrith Whitewater Stadium starting Friday.
Noemie, 26, is making her own way in the sport but her older sister, four-time Olympic medallist and 14-time world champion Jessica, casts a big shadow.
Noemie is eyeing her first Olympic Games selection for Paris in the new kayak cross event.
Added to the Paris schedule, the event opens up another selection spot for the younger Fox, with countries previously only able to send one athlete with four-time Olympic medallist Jessica holding down that spot in since 2012.
Noemie has been training hard in the kayak cross, in which four competitors enter the water together in an adrenalin-fuelled race to the line, with Jessica providing some stiff opposition.
“Jess is the greatest of all time so to have her as a training partner and for her to really help push me and give me opportunities to improve – it’s something I’m definitely really grateful for,” 26-year-old Noemie told AAP.
“We’ve been doing a lot of training and I’ve been trying to work out different strategies for the race.”
Olympic gold medalist Jessica Fox competing at the 2022 Canoe Slalom Australian Open at Penrith Whitewater Stadium in Sydney, Saturday, February 26, 2022. (AAP Image/Supplied by Paddle Australia, JGR Images)
The Fox pair will race the kayak cross among three events in Penrith with 29-year-old Jessica the favourite in both the K1 and C1 in a strong international field.
The three-day event has attracted the likes of Czech Olympic K1 champion Jiri Prskavec, and K1 and British kayak cross world champions Joe Clarke and Kimberley Woods.
Noemie’s Olympic hopes will go on the line in June in a special kayak cross-qualifying race during the Prague World Cup, and she’s upbeat about her chances of finishing in the top three to grab a quota spot.
“Being in the top 10 and having just one person in the sport being able to qualify has always been very hard and I sometimes think if I was racing for another country, I’d have a shot,” she said.
“But it’s super exciting to know that this is an opening in terms of an opportunity to go to the Paris Olympics.
“It is a really hard race, it’s basically a global qualification where the top three boats will get an extra credit for that country.
“It’s only open to those that aren’t already qualified for the Olympics so that knocks out a lot of my main competitors so I am one of the top contenders left on the entry list.
“It’s super exciting for me to have such a huge goal to work towards.”
AAP
