When Noemie Fox stole hearts across the nation with Olympic gold in the Kayak Cross, it was the culmination of months of planning from her support team at Paddle Australia and the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS).

With the Kayak Cross a new event introduced in Paris, the AIS, through the support of the Australian Government, provided Paddle Australia with additional funding to provide new equipment and cover increased travel costs to overseas qualification events.

Paddle Australia Performance Director Kim Crane, who will take over as CEO after the Games, said the extra investment was critical to the result in Paris.

“Noemie’s gold medal was made possible with the support of the Australian Government who backed our team in, to prepare for this exciting new discipline Kayak Cross,” Crane said.

“We had to come up with a bold strategy as the qualification system was challenging and extremely complex to navigate. With Noemie and the team, we made some courageous decisions to both qualify and prepare, backing her in to make this unbelievable performance a reality.

“With alignment between the AIS and Paddle Australia we unequivocally believed in Noemie to make this dream a reality and couldn’t be happier for her - there is no one more deserving and we are just so proud.”

Paddle Australia’s extra investment was part of the $20million Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Preparation Fund from the Australian Government to significantly enhance medal potential and improve the performance of Australian athletes in Paris.

The fund was delivered in two streams, with 32 sports received a direct one-off grant payment, while 26 sports were also given additional grants for 56 targeted projects.

One of the priority projects funded through Stream 2 was Grae Morris. The grant allowed Sailing Australia to provide world class equipment and run two training camps in Fremantle in the lead up to the Games, efforts that contributed to Morris becoming the first Australian to win a medal in windsurfing since Barcelona 1992.

Follow this link to learn more about the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Preparation Fund.