Jessica Esther “Jess” Fox OAM, 29, is an Australian Program and Policy Officer of French descent. She is a world and Olympic champion slalom canoeist and has been competing internationally since 2008.
She became the first Olympic champion in the C1 event when she won gold at the 2020 Summer Olympics. At the ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships, Fox has 14 gold medals to his name. Fox, an eight-time Olympic and world champion paddler, is regarded as the best paddler of all time. She is also eligible for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.
Jessica Fox qualified for the Paris Olympics 2024
Jessica Fox will make history next year in Paris by becoming the first Australian canoe slalom athlete to participate in four Olympic Games. She secured her spot for the 2024 Paris Olympics due to her outstanding performance in canoe slalom events.
As the current top-ranked athlete in both the closed canoe (C1) and kayak (K1) categories, her exceptional results in the 2023 season, including winning gold and silver medals at the World Championships, first place at the Oceania Championships, Kayak Slalom, and another first place at the Oceania Championships.
“I’ll be one of the more experienced members of the team. I’m looking forward to sharing my experience with the wider Australian Olympic team. There ars only two of us selected at the moment, but I’m excited to see it grow as we get closer to Paris.”
Jessica Fox said
Jessica Fox’s Early Life with Her Parents
Jessica Fox was born on June 11, 1994, in Marseille, France. Later, she moved to Penrith, New South Wales. She loves dogs and frequently shares “dog selfies” on her social media accounts. Fox stands at a height of 167 cm (5 ft 6 in) and weighs 61 kg (134 lb). Her hobbies include hiking, spending time at the beach, meeting friends, reading, and traveling.
Fox’s parents are Richard Fox and Myriam Fox Jerusalmi, both of whom competed in canoeing at the Olympics. Her father represented Great Britain at the 1992 Games, while her mother won a bronze medal for France at the 1996 Games.
Richard Fox is currently the Second Vice President of the International Canoe Federation and the high-performance manager for Australian Canoeing. He is also a five-time world champion. Jessica Fox and her mother, Myriam Jerusalmi, are Jewish, but her father is not. Her younger sister, Noemie Fox, is also a slalom canoeist, and her aunt, Rachel Crosbee, was one too.
Fox attended Blaxland High School and finished her HSC year as the top student in New South Wales in PDHPE (Personal Development, Health and Physical Education) in 2011, achieving an ATAR score of 99.1. She studied in the Elite Athlete Program at the University of Sydney, where she pursued a degree in media/communications. Currently, she is studying for a Bachelor of Social Science (Psychology) at Swinburne Online. Fox is bilingual and fluent in both English and French.
Jessica Fox and Mathieu Biazizzo Relationship
Jessica Fox is in a serious romantic relationship with Mathieu Biazizzo. Mathieu is from France and he paddles a canoe in slalom competitions. He was the best slalom canoeist in the World Cup in 2016. Jessica and Mathieu understand each other very well because they are both professional athletes who compete in canoeing events.
Their relationship shows their shared love for the sport of canoeing and their understanding of how much hard work and commitment is needed to be successful at the highest levels of athletic competition. Mathieu Biazizzo was born on July 11, 1991.
He has been competing in international slalom canoeing events since 2009. Mathieu has won many medals in his career at the ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships and the European Championships. His achievements include winning two gold medals in the K1 team event in 2014 and 2021, one silver medal in the K1 team event in 2017, and two bronze medals (one in K1 in 2014 and one in K1 team in 2013) at the ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships. He also won a silver medal in the K1 team event at the 2017 European Championships. Mathieu’s excellent performances allowed him to win the overall title in the K1 class in the 2016 World Cup.
Jessica Fox Beginning of her Canoeing Career
In 2005, Jessica Fox began her canoeing journey on the Nepean River. She received a scholarship and became associated with the Australian Institute of Sport and the New South Wales Institute of Sport. In club competitions, she represented the Penrith Valley Canoe Club.
In September 2009, Fox made her bid for the Australian senior national team. She also competed at the ICF World Ranking event in Merano, Italy, where she finished third in the K1 (kayak) event. At the AYOF event in Penrith, New South Wales, she came in first in the women’s K1 event.
In 2010, Fox won the gold medal in the girls’ K1 slalom event at the Summer Youth Olympics in Singapore. At the Junior World Championships in Foix, she won gold in K1 and also claimed the C1 (canoe) event at that level. She secured her first World Cup victory by winning the C1 event at the third round in La Seu d’Urgell. Additionally, she placed first in C1 and third in K1 at the National Championships in Eildon, Victoria.
In 2011, Fox won gold medals in the C1 event at World Cups 2 and 3. At the World Championships in Bratislava, Slovakia, she finished 19th, which secured Australia an automatic spot in the event at the 2012 Summer Olympics. She also won silver medals at the Australian Open and the Oceania Championships in the women’s K1 event.
Jessica Fox First Olympics
In 2012, Fox represented Australia for the first time at the Olympics in the women’s K1 event, where she won the silver medal. Her result was described as competitive revenge against the 44-year-old Czech paddler Štěpánka Hilgertová, who had beaten Fox’s mother, Myriam, to the K1 gold medal sixteen years earlier at the Atlanta 1996 Summer Olympics.
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Fox’s silver medal topped her mother’s bronze from Atlanta in 1996 and her father’s fourth-place finish in Barcelona in 1992, earning her the nickname “the Silver Fox” from teammates and the press.
Professional Career
In 2013, Fox won her first World Championship title in the C1 event and the C1 team event at the World Championships in Prague.
At the World Championships at Deep Creek Lake, USA, Fox became the first athlete to win both the C1 and K1 events at the same World Championships, outperforming Jana Dukátová, who had previously become the first to win world championship titles in K1 in 2006 and C1 in 2010, but at separate events.
In 2016, Fox won her second Olympic medal, a bronze in the K1 event in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. After winning multiple World Cup races, she secured the overall World Cup title in the Kayak Single Slalom (K1) and finished second overall in the Canoe Single Slalom (C1). She also won the U23 World Championships in both K1 and C1 in Kraków, Poland. Additionally, she won the Oceania Championships Slalom C1 in Penrith, Australia.
In 2017, Jessica Fox won the K1 (kayak) event at the World Championships. She also secured multiple World Cup medals, the Canoeist of the Year award, and the New South Wales Athlete of the Year award.
In 2018, Fox became a double ICF (International Canoe Federation) Canoe World Champion, winning both the C1 (canoe) and K1 events. She continued her success by winning numerous World Cups in both disciplines. Her 2018 season featured an undefeated run in C1, where she won all five World Cups and the World Championships. Additionally, she achieved three consecutive ‘Golden Doubles’ at the first three World Cups, winning both C1 and K1 events.
In 2019, Fox won the Oceania Championships in Canoe Slalom again. She also secured the World Cup Overall titles in both C1 and K1 events.
Fox Tokyo Olympics and Further Journey
In 2020, at the Tokyo Olympics, Fox finished third to claim the bronze medal in the women’s canoe slalom K1 event. She also gained media attention for using a condom to repair her kayak during the competition.
In Tokyo, Fox was the fastest qualifier for the final of the inaugural C1 canoe slalom event. She went on to win the gold medal, beating the silver medalist, Mallory Franklin of Great Britain, by more than three seconds with a penalty-free run.
In 2021, at the World Championships in Bratislava, Fox did not progress to the final of either the K1 or C1 events for the first time in her entire career, after incurring 50-second penalties in the semi-finals of both events.
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However, on the final day of competition, she became the World Champion in the Kayak Cross event, securing her 8th individual world title in a 3rd unique event. This was just her third international appearance in the Kayak Cross event, which will make its Olympic debut at the Paris 2024 Games.
In 2023, Fox became the K1 Slalom World Champion for the fourth time at the ICF World Championships. She won her 10th career individual gold medal in canoe slalom. Fox also teamed up with her sister Noemie and Kate Eckhardt to win Australia’s first-ever World Championship gold medal in the women’s kayak team event.
Overall, she has secured one gold, one silver, and two bronze medals from her three Olympic Games, increasing her status even more as the world’s most decorated canoe slalom athlete.
