Three course-side words that summed up extraordinary Jess Fox theatre perfectly

PARIS: As Jess Fox lived an agonising wait to find out if she had won kayak gold in Paris, I heard three words accompanied by a beaming grin and a belly laugh that encapsulated the feeling in the arena superbly.

Surging, muscling and contorting through rough Olympic waters as the fifth of 12 athletes up in the women's K1 final, Fox delivered a run that was both faultless and blisteringly quick.

The Australian, who was born in the French city of Marseilles but moved to Sydney with her family as a four-year-old, incurred no penalty and blasted through the course in 96.08 seconds to catapult herself into the gold medal position.

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But because another seven competitors were yet to confront the fierce waves, rapids and currents at the Nautical Stadium, Fox, her family and a significant number of Australian fans speckled throughout the stands were left hoping with all their might that no one yet to race, including the reigning Olympic K1 gold medallist, would not snatch gold from her grasp.

Twenty-six minutes elapsed between the moment Fox stormed over the finish line and the moment she realised she'd won K1 Olympic gold, which until then had proven the only missing piece in her trophy cabinet.

Fox spent those 26 minutes inside a marquee designated for the three athletes currently occupying the medal positions. In that marquee, she fidgeted, crossed her fingers, prayed, smiled, grimaced, gawked at the water, looked away, buried her face in her hands, and grimaced some more.

At one point throughout the excruciating wait, one fellow journalist seated beside me in the media area threw his hands on his head and, with a huge grin and an enormous laugh, shouted: "I hate this!"

I felt the same.

I'm sure many of the thousands of people who had packed into the venue felt just like the two of us, who were riding a rollercoaster that was both nerve-racking and exhilarating.

In my eyes, it was sporting theatre at its phenomenal best.

When Fox was asked in the media mixed zone how the wait had felt for her, she offered one word instantly.

"Awful," quipped the Australian golden girl.

"It was really hard," the Penrith product added.

"Last time, I was last to start in Tokyo [when she won canoe gold], so part of me was like, 'This is good, this is different to Tokyo, that's a good sign', but it just means you've got to come out and be the attacker and set the bar for everyone else to chase, and so that means the wait is long.

"... I was so nervous watching and I had my fingers crossed and tried to pray and do everything I could to just stay calm."

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On the banks of the whitewater course were Jess' younger sister Noemie, who will make her Olympic debut this week, and their parents, Richard Fox and Myriam Fox-Jerusalmi. Both parents were Olympic canoe slalom athletes in the 1990s, for Great Britain and France respectively, and the latter has always been Jess' coach.

In the dear moments that followed Jess' breakthrough kayak triumph, in the country of her birth no less, tears flowed and the tightest of hugs were shared with her parents, Noemie and many others.

"It was really tough watching Ricarda [Funk]," Jess admitted, referring to the defending Olympic champion's run that started brilliantly but turned disastrous.

"I felt heartbroken for her, but at the same time, for me it was the good result, it was what I was striving for, and the goal was ticked and the dream achieved.

"I had my hands in front of my face and the tears were flowing because I just couldn't believe the moment was finally happening."