Paris Olympics 2024: Jess Fox’s campaign over after brutal Kayak Cross eliminator

Jessica Fox was left “gutted” to miss out on her chance to win a historic third gold medal in Paris, but sister Noemie raced into the quarterfinals of the women’s kayak cross.

The elder Fox produced a blistering comeback in her heat to overcome a rough start, but it wasn’t enough to stay alive in the new competition.

Noemie had no such problems, taking out the heat in a significant upset to keep alive hopes of another Aussie medal on the water.

Jessica said she had experienced mixed emotions after the race.

“(I’m) gutted absolutely 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,” Fox said after the race.

“I was nervous for her, nervous for myself, and 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.”

The kayak cross consists of four competitors racing each other down an obstacle course, including a bar that requires a barrel roll to get past.

Each kayaker is dropped into the water from an elevated starting platform, and the drop did Jessica Fox no favours as she bounced on the landing.

Meanwhile, her sister raced into the lead with a perfect launch and never looked back.

Noemie said post-race she had hoped her and Jess could face off in the final but knows she will be there cheering her on.

“We were hoping to meet in the final, but it was an incredible race in a tough line-up again in the heats,” she said on Nine.

“It’s sad to see her not get out second behind me. I would have loved to do the quarterfinals together, but that’s the sport. It’s so brutal, and it’s every man for themselves.”

“The quarterfinals will just be stacked, but it’s day by day.”

Earlier in the day, Tim Anderson blitzed his heat with a breath-taking barrel roll that left the field for dead as Tristan Carter also qualified for tomorrow’s quarterfinals runs in the men’s event.