PARIS -- There's a young girl, perhaps 11 or 12 years old, standing between her parents on the banks of the Vaires-sur-Marne rapids. She has green and gold ribbons tied to her pigtails, an Australian flag painted on each cheek, and another one draped over her shoulders. Her arms are spread wide to hold a handmade cardboard sign with a message that reads "IF JESS DOESN'T GET YA, NOEMIE WILL" in bold black Texta.
It was a message of hope, more than anything. Wishful thinking ahead of the Olympics' inaugural kayak cross quarterfinals. But it was a message that would ultimately foreshadow an unlikely Australian triumph, as Noemie Fox stole the spotlight from her highly decorated sister and paddled her way to the sweetest of gold medals.
Of course, that young girl's sign was a reference to what had transpired 24 hours earlier. Jess Fox, winner of both the K1 and C1 events in Paris, was knocked out of the kayak cross after failing to be one of the first two paddlers over the line in her heat. One of the two to beat her? Younger sister, Noemie. With all eyes in the grandstand fixed on Jess, it was Noemie who surprisingly burst clear from the drop and splashed off into the distance, sealing her path to the last 16 at the expense of her sister.
Despite her dominant performance, bookmakers were still willing to pay out 18-1 for those tipping more gold for the Fox family. It wasn't an outrageously disrespectful price, either. Noemie had never won a major meet in the discipline and the Paris field was incredibly stacked, even without Jess.
But that little win over big sister under cloudy skies was a sign of what was to come Monday afternoon when the Paris sunshine returned once more and the quarterfinals, semifinals, and heart-stopping final were staged back-to-back-to-back, within the space of just 75 minutes.
Every race there were new challengers, but every race had the same result; Fox crossing the finish line first as her rivals languished somewhere in the distance. As the stakes were ratcheted up, so too was her temperament, craft, and tactical nous inside the boat. She zigged when she needed to zig, zagged when she needed to zag. She avoided the carnage unfolding around her, executed perfect Eskimo rolls, and ensured she was always at the head of the field, all while wearing that trademark Fox look of determination on her face. One by one, she cut the other competitors down until there were no more remaining and she had secured Olympic gold.
"It's crazy that it's mine," Noemie said after streaking clear to win the final. "You don't really dare to dream this big, but I really did this time and I dared to dream to get to the Olympics, and then to get to that final. When I saw I was first, it was pure joy. There's no words to describe that feeling."
Just as her mother, Myriam Fox-Jerusalmi, and Noemie had done for her solo slalom runs the week before, Jess rode every bump of her sister's path to glory from the grassy bank running parallel to the course. She gasped. She winced. She cheered. And in the end, she cried. Tears of absolute joy. Then she jumped into the whitewater and embraced the family's newest Olympic gold medallist.
"I'm just in awe of her. She nailed it," Jess told Australian broadcaster Nine. "She's an Olympic champion and she has worked so hard for that. I'm so proud of her. There's so much emotion in this moment. It's amazing. It's just a fairytale ending for this Olympics."
Jess has always been her sister's greatest supporter, but in a cruel sense of irony, she has also been the one holding Noemie back from realising her potential. Before Paris, Noemie had never competed at the Olympics, with Jess basically owning Australia's sole qualification slot for the K1 and C1 events. But with kayak cross added to the bill for these Games, it opened the door for another Australian qualifier. Enter Noemie.
"She's been watching the Games, she's worked at the Games, she's been a volunteer, she's been a spectator -- she's done everything else except be the athlete at the games," Jess said earlier this year after Noemie had secured her ticket to Paris with a silver medal at the Canoe Slalom World Cup in Prague. "For her to qualify, and be able to share that together ... it's going to be incredible. It's a dream come true."
Noemie's triumph in the kayak cross meant Australia swept the women's gold medals on the Paris rapids. Make that the Fox family swept the medals. For Noemie, it's a breakthrough victory at 27 years of age and the most glorious day of her life.
"I got my moment and it's my medal," said an elated Noemie. "We're walking away with three gold medals in our family, which is insane."
And then there's Jess. She may have fallen short of the unprecedented Olympic gold medal triple treat she was chasing, but her exploits in the French capital over the past fortnight have made her a national icon.
Her triumph in the traditional K1 event on opening week was the sweetest of redemption stories. In one magical run she relinquished her demons from past Games to capture the only major title missing from her glittering resume. Seventy-two hours later, she backed it up with gold in the C1, the event she also won three years ago in Tokyo, completing an historic Olympic double and cementing herself as the greatest paddler to ever live.
"There was definitely a lot of pressure, a lot of expectation. Add in the flag bearer role -- that's an absolute honour and privilege to be in that role and to lead our team -- but with that also comes an extra layer," a relieved Jess said after her Games came to an end Sunday. "When I managed to win the kayak race, there was so much joy in that moment, to finally achieve that. The gold medal is the dream and I love standing on the dais. I love racing and I'm not done yet, that's for sure."
In Australia, some 16,000 kilometers away, those Jess were representing sacrificed sleep and watched bleary eyed as she weaved magic down the whitewater. They cheered her through every gate, held their breath at every split, and mimicked her celebrations when she crossed the finish line. But from now on, they might just be doing it for a pair of Foxes.