Noemie Fox is an Olympic champion, just like her big sister
Noemie Fox has stepped out of the shadow of her triple Olympic champion sister Jessica to win a gold medal of her own in the kayak cross to complete a clean sweep of womenās canoe events for their family.
The 27-year-old collected Australiaās 13th gold medal of the Paris Games with an unstoppable display in the new Olympic whitewater event.
After crossing the finish line, Fox was joined in the water by 30-year-old Jessica, who jumped in to celebrate after cheering her sibling all the way down the course.
āItās crazy that itās mine,ā Noemie said of the gold medal.
āYou donāt really dare to dream this big, but I really did this time and I dared to dream to get to the Olympics and then to get to that final.
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āWhen I saw in the last up (gate) that I was first, it was pure joy ā thereās no words to describe that feeling.ā
If the Fox family was a nation, they would sit in 16th spot on the overall medal table at the Paris Games.
Fox won every round before taking out the four-paddler final on Tuesday morning (AEST) at the Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium.
Fox crossed the line ahead of Franceās Angele Hug with Great Britainās Ā reigning world champion Kimberley Woods winning bronze.
Woods held the lead but struggled to get around an upstream gate late in the course, allowing Fox to power to victory.
While Noemie has long been a world-class paddler, sheās never been able to compete in an Olympics before as her superstar sister has taken the only Australian selection spot available.
The younger sibling said there were many times she considered giving the sport away, such was her sisterās dominance.
But the addition of the splash and dash event in Paris opened up another spot for Noemie to qualify alongside Jessica, who helped her prepare for the selection regatta.
āIām her biggest cheerleader, just like sheās mine,ā Noemie said.
āTo watch her win two golds and then to have her as my biggest cheerleader, itās a fairytale ending.
āSheās the greatest of all time in our sport ā¦ watching her win, itās just such a privilege and inspiration and it really fuelled me.
āWhen someone like that really believes in you and tells you āyouāve got itā, youāve got to go and get it.
āI got my moment and itās my medal and weāre walking away with three gold medals in our family, which is insane.ā
Jessica won the C1 and K1 Olympics titles ā to bring her medal tally to six from four Games ā before being eliminated early in the kayak cross.
Their mother Myriam Fox-Jerusalmi is also an Olympic medallist, winning a K1 bronze for France at the 1996 Olympics.
Jessica said she was proud to see her sister achieve her dream.
āI was so nervous, I just wanted her to do a good race ā¦ she nailed it,ā she said.
āIām just in awe of her ā¦ sheās an Olympic champion and she has worked so hard for that, Iām so happy for her.ā
-AAP
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