Olympic chief’s job offer stuns golden girl Jessica Fox
OF all the accolades and awards that Jess Fox has received since her inspiring performances at the Tokyo Olympics, one that she cherishes more than most is one that she never saw coming.
More than three months after she won gold in the C1 slalom, Fox was unexpectedly appointed to the International Olympic Committee’s Athletes’ Commission, one of the most powerful and influential platforms for competitors the world over.
It caught everyone by surprise but no one more so than Fox herself because she hadn’t even applied for the commission so had no idea she was a candidate.
The first time she heard about it was after she finished a board meeting at Paddle Australia and checked her phone.
“I had these three missed calls from a Swiss number and I was like ‘this is bizarre, who’s calling me?’” Fox said.
“So I called back because I thought maybe it might be urgent and I was put straight through to the president of the IOC, Mr Thomas Bach, and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh’.
“I’ve met him a few times but I had no idea what it was about and there was a bit of small talk at the start. We were talking about Tokyo and then about the Beijing preparations and how everything’s going. So, I’m thinking maybe he is just calling all the Olympic champions.”
Bach soon came clean and explained to Fox that he wanted to offer her a job. He said there was a spot available for an Oceania representative on the commission following the election of four new members during the Tokyo Games.
Australian flag-bearer Cate Campbell had been on the ballot sheet but missed out and because there were already two European swimmers on the commission, Bach needed another candidate.
Fox emerged as a perfect candidate because she was on the AOC Athletes’ Commission and a former member of the International Canoe Federation Athletes Commission.
“It was a very big surprise but a huge opportunity that I couldn’t pass up and a big honour,’’ Fox said.