Aussie’s Olympic golden girl Jess Fox had a bittersweet moment after failing to make it out of her heat during the kayak cross event – because her younger sister Noemie Fox came in first.
Jess would have been hoping to add a third gold medal to her tally with this event, after performing well in her qualifying round. However, she came dead last in her heat after getting stuck in the last upstream gate.
She was visibly upset after the heat, as only the top two from each heat make it into the quarter-final. Her sadness was immediately replaced with happiness when she realised her sister had come first, and the sisters shared a hug on the water.
The Fox sisters went head to head in the latest kayak cross event. (Image: Getty)
“Gutted absolutely [to lose] but at the same time when you see your little sister win the heat… the emotion went straight away and I just gave her a massive hug because I was really proud of her,” Jess said in her post-event interview.
“I was nervous for her, nervous for myself, gutted that we were in the same heat, but also then we realised it could be an advantage if we could work together or at least not block each other, so I think we did that well.”
She went on to say her sister didn’t knock her out of the heat, as she was “chasing” her from the beginning.
“I just didn’t pull out my best race and it was really tough… off the start I got really tangled with the other two girls and Noemie had a really good start so I was trying to chase her from that moment,” Jess explained.
“That first corner I turned fourth, so I had to try and overtake in the first up[stream gate] which I thought I did really well, climbed up one spot and then I almost, almost pulled off the overtake in the last upstream gate.”
Jess and Noemie have nothing but love for each other. (Image: Getty)
Is there any animosity between Jess and Noemie Fox?
Jess and Noemie’s dad, Richard Fox, who is also their coach, said the pair were disappointed Jess hadn’t made it through to the quarter-final.
He said Noemie isn’t “rejoicing” because she “feels for their sister” and he had originally hoped they’d qualify as first and second of the heat.
“There was no tussle between the two. That’s good… it has been a big, big Games for Jess and she can be proud of what she has done,” he added.”
Noemie revealed her sister gave her “words of encouragement” during their embrace on the water, and said Jess will be “pushing [her] to the end”.
Noemie competes in the quarter-final two of the Women’s Slalom KX-1 tonight at 11.35pm AEST, against Ricarda Funk from Germany, New Zealand’s Luuka Jones and Spain’s Maialen Chourraut.
The Olympic Games Paris 2024 can be viewed live and on-demand on Channel Nine and 9Now, or on Stan.
Feature Image: Getty
