Olympic champion apologizes for making ‘savage’ comment about her dad after winning gold

Olympic medalist Jessica Fox has apologised for making a 'savage' comment about her dad after her big win at the games.

The French-born Australian slalom canoeist just added a new Olympic medal to her roster thanks to her performance in the K1 event at the 2024 Paris Games. This is her second gold in Paris this year, having she previously won gold at Tokyo 2020, silver at London 2012 and bronze at Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020. Not bad, eh?

But the Fox family have more to celebrate than just Jessica's win as her sister Noemie also took home a gold medal in the first ever women's slalom kayak cross event.

It seems that sporting talent runs in the family as the two sisters' parents, Richard Fox and Myriam Fox-Jerusalmi, are also canoeing champions.

French canoeing star Myriam competed at the international level from 1979 to 1996, winning bronze in the K1 at the Atlanta Olympics in 1996. She also won ten medals at the ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships and the World Cup title three times in a row between 1989 and 1991.

Meanwhile, Richard competed for Great Britain for two decades, winning ten gold medals at the World Championships.

However, he's the only family member without an Olympic medal after he narrowly missed out in the 1992 Olympics held in Barcelona.

And it seems he became the butt of the joke when Jessica was interviewed after her sister Noemie's win.

Speaking to Australian TV, Jessica poked fun at her dad's misfortunes, saying: "It means that poor dad is the only one without an Olympic medal!"

"What a moment for our family. What a moment for these games," she added.

But looking back on her comment, Jessica realised she may have been a little too 'savage'.

"I was pretty savage in my interview, and I realised after that was really mean," she later told Australian broadcaster Channel Nine.

"Sorry, Dad. You have a great resume, 10-time world champion, amazing! We've got four gold medals in the family, so there's one for everyone."

Taking to Instagram to celebrate her win in the K1, Jessica described her 'magical day on the water'.

"The race I've been dreaming about & working towards for so long," she wrote in the caption alongside pictures of her with her gold medal.

"To feel the nerves and the pressure, but also calm & focused as I stared down the course in the starting blocks, and to cross the finish line knowing I'd left it all out there… just proud."

She went on to add: "It was incredible to race in front of that crowd with that atmosphere - thank you, merci!"

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It all paid off though as he took home the silver along with his partner Sevval Ilayda Tarhan.

Noah Lyles' 100m victory

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The final also marked the fastest race of all time, with all eight athletes crossing the finish line in under 10 seconds.

George Mills and Hugo Hay's 5000m bust up

Chaos erupted when a total of five athletes found themselves face down on the track after an incident left several runners stumbling on top of each other, including Team GB's George Mills and French runner Hugo Hay.

Mills looked as though he had some harsh words for Hay after the tumble which he admitted he was 'probably not allowed to say'.

Snoop Dogg in general

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Ana Carolina Vieira gets sent home for breaking athletes' village rules with boyfriend

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Freddie Crittenden jogs for entire race on purpose

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The athlete said it was a calculated move to avoid aggravating a sore muscle in his leg and due to the introduction of repechage rounds, he knew that he'd have another chance at glory.

'Slow pool' accusations

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Luana Alonso 'kicked out' of Olympic Village

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Gold medal winner Thomas Ceccon spotted sleeping in park amid village complaints

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In 2016, Van de Velde was sentenced to four years in prison after admitting three counts of rape against a 12-year-old girl in August 2014, with many furious that he has been allowed to compete in the Olympics.