CANOE SLALOM: Teenage Australian Jessica Fox has won the silver medal in the women's K1 canoe slalom at the Lee Valley White Water Centre. 

Fox, whose mother and coach Myriam Fox-Jerusalmi won a bronze for France in the same event at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games, qualified eighth for the ten-woman final before producing a faultless paddle in the decider.

French-born Fox clocked a stunning 105.90 seconds to take the competition lead and then watched on in anticipation as none of the next four paddlers could cut her out of the gold medal position. 

Next up was France’s Emilie Fer and after a powerful and composed display she crossed the line just 0.61 seconds ahead of Fox’s time. 

Both paddlers then witnessed both Maialen Chourraut of Spain and Natalia Pacierpnik (Poland) as they failed to knock Fer or Fox from the top of the dais. Chourraut finished with bronze.

On the medal presentation Fox was overwhelmed, sporting a grin from ear to ear.

“It’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen,” Fox said of the medal.

“My mum won bronze in Atlanta and now here I am 20 years later, winning silver, it’s an amazing thing to share.

“I’m only 18 and I’ve had such a great season so far and to cap it off with a silver medal at the Olympics is just a dream come true.”

It was a wonderful performance for 29 year-old Fer, who was seventh in Beijing four years ago, but a more remarkable effort from Fox who not twelve months ago was a high school student at Blaxland High in Sydney’s west. She came to London dreaming of a medal, but hoping just to make the top ten.

“My goal was to make the final so at the start I was like, just give it everything,” a jubilant Fox said.

“I put down quite a good run but there were a couple of mistakes, but all in all it was a fast time. There was just the wait at the finish, I was so nervous.

“No matter what the result to perform like that at an Olympic final is something I was proud of.”

The medal was a sensational punctuation mark to a brilliant season for Fox who just a few weeks ago won three gold medals at the world junior championships.  

As well as upstaging her mother, Fox bettered the best result her father Richard ever had at the Olympics, besting his fourth place for Great Britain in the men’s K1 event at the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games. It’s doubtful he’d mind.

“Someone said to my father the other day that at this rate he might be the only person in the family with no Olympic medal,” Fox said.

“My sister is still to come, so we’ll have to see.”

Dave Lyall in London

Olympics.com.au