Just imagine the Fox family dinner table at Christmas this year.
An opportunity to breathe out and soak in what they achieved in the last 12 months.
No matter what is on the table, it couldn’t taste better than three Gold medals.
And no matter what Christmas movie follows during the traditional afternoon slumber, it couldn’t have a better storyline than what the Fox family produced in 2024.
This Olympics, destined to be remembered by feats in the pool, will instead go down in history thanks to water of a different and more ferocious kind.
What Jessica and Noemie Fox have delivered in this past fortnight will forever be part of Australian sporting history.
And to top it all off, they are absolute gold standard people. Pardon the pun.
We watch sports like rugby league and AFL every week, with players often struggling to string a sentence together between giving credit to the boys and confirming that it is indeed a game of two halves.
Both codes have to write in specific rules about talking to the media because if they didn’t, players and coaches would prefer not to and would skip such commitments.
When the National Anthem is played before big matches like State of Origin or the Grand Final, only a couple of players open their lips. The rest are stony faced, looking like they’d rather be anywhere else in the world.
But watching Jess, Noemie and their parents speak before and after events during the Olympics has been refreshing and makes you full of pride.
They speak with such clarity, such professionalism, such passion. There is no slip-ups, no just going through the motions.
The tears in their eyes as that anthem plays and the Australian flag is raised following their Gold medal efforts makes you bloody proud.
What Jess achieved last week was incredible. Gold Medals in both the C1 and K1, confirming her status as the greatest paddler the world has seen.
For Noemie to step out of her older sister’s shadow and claim Gold in the Kayak Cross on Tuesday morning was just magic.
The emotion as Jess and the girls’ coach and mother Myriam jumped into the water to celebrate was something you could watch over and over again and never get tired of.
Actually, let’s drop the word coach. For that moment, Myriam was just a proud Mum. That much was obvious.
Richard Fox, who outside of his work in the sporting world is the President of the Penrith Valley Chamber of Commerce, was little calmer, such is his nature.
In fact, the measured Richard you see on your television screens is exactly what he is like every day. How he stays that calm, especially in commentary, I will never know.
This Fox story, and the fact that it happened in Penrith, is full of sliding doors moments.
There was some debate over whether the Penrith Whitewater Stadium would even be built ahead of the 2000 Olympics.
As the story goes, there was a push for Penrith to build a velodrome and host the cycling instead.
In fact, Penrith City Council and Panthers even put together a submission to the Olympic Coordination Authority to get the cycling venue across the line.
But when canoe slalom was a confirmed starter in the 2000 Games, the focus turned to a whitewater venue.
The $6 million investment included $3 million from the State Government, $1.5 million from Penrith City Council and $1.5 million from the International Canoe Federation.
What a return on investment.
It was enough to bring the Fox family to Sydney, and the rest is history.
Jessica was only six-years-old when the Olympics were held in Sydney. Noemie was only three.
24 years on, and that venue – their base – has produced these two Olympic champions.
There are countless stories around the world about Olympic venues becoming wastelands once the Games have come and gone.
And while the Whitewater Stadium has had its fair share of issues over the years, the fact that it has stood the test of time and is producing champion athletes is something we should be proud of.
Now, the focus will turn to how we honour the Fox sisters.
Surely there needs to be a parade down the main street of Penrith, perhaps finishing at the Whitewater Stadium, upon their return.
Some have suggested, should the calendars align, an appearance at a Panthers home game before the end of the year.
There is no question that we’ll need to come up with some sort of statue that honours the efforts of Jessica and Noemie at these Games on a more permanent basis.
In the future, renaming the Whitewater Stadium in honour of Jess, once her glittering career has come to a close, is surely a certainty.
For now though, we get to sit back and bask in the glory of these two wonderfully gifted athletes, and the two parents that raised them to be incredible young women.
The word hero is tossed around a lot in the sporting world, probably a little too much.
But there is no question that Jess and Noemie will be an inspiration to countless girls back in Australia, and from Penrith.
Proof that no matter where you are from in the world, no matter what may stand in front of you, hard work and determination can get you anywhere.
Troy Dodds
Troy Dodds is the Weekender's Managing Editor and Breaking News Reporter. He has more than 20 years experience as a journalist, working with some of Australia's leading media organisations. In 2023, he was named Editor of the Year at the Mumbrella Publish Awards.