SYDNEY (Reuters) – Australia’s Jess Fox will return to the land of her birth to defend her Olympic canoe slalom C1 title next year after being selected for her fourth Summer Games on Monday.
The 29-year-old was born in Marseille to a French mother and British father, both Olympic paddlers, before relocating to Australia as a toddler.
Fox, who secured her early nomination through her results in this season’s World Cup and World Championships, will become the first Australian to compete in four Olympics in her sport when she takes to the water at Vaires-sur-Marne outside Paris.
“London was my first games and it doesn’t feel that long ago, to be selected for my fourth Olympic Games is very special,” she said in a news release.
“The French connection will make it a unique Games for me and one that my family and friends in France will be able to enjoy and experience live.
“It’s been a wonderful 2023 season and I’m so pleased to have qualified early which gives me a bit more freedom in my preparation this summer to train through the domestic season.”
The most decorated female paddler in history with 10 individual world titles, Fox won her first Olympic gold in Tokyo in 2021 and also claimed a bronze medal in the single kayak (K1), the other event she will compete in next year.
In her first two Games, she won a K1 silver in London in 2012 and a bronze in the same event at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics four years later.
Fox won the overall World Cup titles for both C1 and K1 this season as well as taking K1 gold and C1 bronze at the World Championships in London in September.
“Making one Australian Olympic team is a rare and special feat, to achieve this four times is truly special,” said Anna Meares, Australia’s Chef de Mission for the Paris Games.
“It’s a testament to the work Jess puts in on the water, in the gym and in the small details honing her craft to stay at the absolute peak of her sport for more than a decade.”
(Reporting by Nick Mulvenney, editing by …)
