Australian Jewish kayaker Jessica Fox wins bronze — again — at Tokyo Olympics

Kayaker Jessica Fox

By Emily Burack July 27, 2021

(JTA) — Jessica Fox, considered by many to be the greatest paddler of all time, was heavily favored to win gold in the Tokyo Olympics women’s slalom K-1 competition.

Instead, the Jewish paddler took home a bronze medal on Tuesday, as she did at the 2016 Rio Games.

Ahead of the final, Fox was the top qualifier with the fastest time in the semifinals. Yet as she paddled in her final race, “it didn’t go to plan,” Fox said. “I had to fight all the way down.”

Fox, 27, burst into tears as her mom and coach, Myriam Jerusalmi, also an Olympic medalist in kayaking, comforted her after the race.

“It’s all the emotions,” Fox told Australian media. “I’m disappointed that I made the mistakes I did that cost me the gold medal, but also relieved and happy to be on the podium. It’s our sport. … I’d obviously come dreaming of that gold medal, so when I hugged Mum that’s when the floodgates opened.”

Fox had won silver in the same event at the 2012 London Olympics. This year, she’ll be able to compete in a different slalom competition, C-1, in part thanks to her activism — it was added as an event for women. She is favored to win gold there, too. The competition is set to begin Wednesday.

—
The post Australian Jewish kayaker Jessica Fox wins bronze — again — at Tokyo Olympics appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO