Fox family's Olympic dream crushed by new rule

1 year ago 84

A caller IOC qualifying regularisation is acceptable to extremity hopes of Olympic leader Jess Fox competing alongside her sister Noemie astatine the 2024 Paris Games, with the lesser-known 26-year-old facing the precise existent imaginable of being a sacrificial lamb successful the quest for golden medals.

With conscionable implicit a twelvemonth until the Paris Olympics begins, Paddle Australia - the governing assemblage for the athletics of canoeing and kayaking - has admitted it has a 'difficult' concern up aft changes to the qualification system.

The Fox sisters volition vie successful 2 abstracted categories for spots successful the Olympics, nevertheless their paths could transverse successful awkward circumstances.

Normally, Jess would beryllium expected to vie successful the closed canoe (C1) - in which she's the reigning golden medallist - and kayak (K1) events.

However, a alteration from the IOC means an jock who has qualified successful the C1 cannot beryllium considered for a spot successful qualifying for the kayak event.

Jess and Noemie Fox successful 2020. (Getty)

It's believed the alteration is to promote much countries to vie successful the Olympics.

In bid for Jess to vie successful the K1, she'll trust connected different Australian - astir apt her sister Noemie - to gain a quota spot for Australia. This means competitors are qualifying the boat, not individually, with jock enactment the adjacent portion of the process. Once the qualification process is completed, Paddle Australia and the Australian Olympic Committee volition enactment unneurotic to find which jock should vie successful which category, meaning Noemie is apt to beryllium sacrificed to springiness her sister, who is simply a genuine changeable of golden medals successful some categories, 2 chances to vie successful Paris.

To further complicate issues, if Noemie earns the quota successful K1 - which could spell to her sister Jess - it means she volition not beryllium eligible to suffice successful Kayak Cross - a caller event.

Paddle Australia nationalist show manager Kim Crane explained the contention betwixt the sisters is nary antithetic to immoderate regular contest.

"It's nary antithetic successful the consciousness the 2 girls are ever competing, essentially, competing nether the umbrella for Australia but they're really lining up arsenic idiosyncratic athletes against each other," she said.

"That's the quality of their narration is they are supportive of each different but astatine the aforesaid clip cognize they're retired to situation each different to beryllium the champion they tin beryllium arsenic idiosyncratic athletes. But there's nary uncertainty it's difficult.

"In a mean squad situation it's hard but erstwhile you're battling against your sister it's truly difficult."

Paddle Australia is presently going done its strategy towards the elder satellite championships successful September, which is the qualification process for the Olympics.

Wide World of Sports reached retired to Jess Fox for comment, nevertheless owed to planetary commitments, was told she was unavailable.

For a regular dose of the champion of the breaking quality and exclusive contented from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by clicking here!