Jessica Fox

Jessica Fox OAM is widely acclaimed as the greatest slalom canoeist of all time. Moving to Australia with her family at the age of four, Fox was deeply influenced by her parents: her mother, Myriam Fox-Jerusalmi, who won a bronze medal in K1 at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, and her father, Richard Fox, a five-time K1 World Champion. Under the guidance of her mother, Fox developed her passion for paddling and quickly made a name for herself in the sport, achieving success in junior and under-23 competitions with multiple world titles and a Youth Olympics gold medal.

Fox made her Olympic debut at the age of 18 at the London 2012 Games, where she won a silver medal in K1. She continued to shine at the Rio 2016 Olympics with a bronze medal in the same event, winning over the heart of the nation in doing so. At the Tokyo 2020 Games, she made history by winning the gold medal in the newly introduced C1 event. Her career reached another milestone at the 2024 Paris Olympics, where she clinched gold in both the K1 and C1 events and secured victory in the new Kayak Cross discipline, further demonstrating her unparalleled skill and versatility. There aren’t many athletes who can lay claim to being the greatest of all time in their sport by the age of 28.

Fox's illustrious career includes an impressive tally of 51 World Cup gold medals, 10 World Championship titles, and 4 Olympic medals (2 gold, 1 silver, and 1 bronze). She made history by being the first paddler to win three individual gold medals in a single weekend at an ICF World Cup and has achieved a total of 51 individual World Cup gold medals, further proving her dominance in the sport.

In addition to her athletic achievements, Fox is a highly respected public speaker and ambassador for prominent brands such as Adidas, Sydney Water, Red Bull, Toyota, and Grant Thornton. She served as a Young Ambassador for Australia at the Youth Olympic Games in 2014 and has also participated in various forums and meetings related to the International Olympic Committee and the Youth Olympic Games movement.

Fox’s accolades include being named as the 2018 Sportswoman of the Year at the World Paddle Awards and receiving the Medal of the Order of Australia in 2022 for her outstanding service to sport. She also received recognition as Maccabi World Union Australia's Outstanding Jewish Sportswoman from 2014 to 2019 and was awarded the AIS Sport Performance Award Female Athlete of the Year in 2018. As a member of the IOC Athletes' Commission since 2021, Fox continues to influence and contribute to the sport on a global scale.

Balancing her competitive career with academic pursuits, Fox completed a Bachelor’s degree in Social Science Psychology while continuing to excel in paddling. Her versatility and commitment are also evident in her appearance as a celebrity contestant on the Australian version of "Hell’s Kitchen", where she finished 7th overall. Jessica Fox, or “Australia’s Golden Girl” as the headlines have declared, remains an inspirational figure, available for keynote speeches, Q&As, and panel discussions at various corporate, school, sports, and charity events.