Paddle Australia’s 15 athlete squad, across Canoe Slalom and Canoe Sprint, have produced the sport’s best ever results at an Olympic Games with three gold, one silver and one bronze medal in Paris.

In what was the overall Australian Olympic Team’s best Games, with 18 gold, 19 silver and 16 bronze medals, Australia’s paddlers shined across the two weeks, not only contributing to the success on the medal tally but forming valuable members of the broader Aussie team. 

The Fox sisters, Jess and Noemie, delivered Australia the fairytale it was holding its breath for, winning every female gold on offer in the Canoe Slalom competition. 

Four time Olympian Jess, took back to back C1 Olympic titles while also finally clinching the elusive gold medal in the K1 she had been dreaming of for many years. 

Jess’s double gold medal came off the back of being named flag bearer for Australia in the Opening Ceremony as well as carrying the Olympic Torch as part of the relay. 

For Olympic debutant Noemie, she carved out her own slice of history to win gold in the first ever staging of the women’s Kayak Cross competition. Her nerves of steel saw her deliver one of the most memorable moments of the 2024 Olympic Games.

Both Tristan Carter (C1 Men – 9th) and Tim Anderson (K1 Men – 7th) as Olympic debutants made finals, with Tim only 0.03 seconds from the bronze medal showing how tight the competition was on the day.

Week two saw Australia’s Sprint Kayaking team take up the mantle, with two more medals added to the tally. 

A photo finish in the men’s K4 500m Canoe Sprint crew saw our men’s crew take home the silver medal, just 0.04 seconds behind gold medalists Germany.

The crew of Riley Fitzsimmons, Pierre van der Westhuyzen, Jackson Collins and Noah Havard delivered a crowd pleasing performance to secure Australia’s first K4 Olympic medal since the London 2012 Games. With 3 Olympic debutants in this boat this was a phenomenal achievement, especially after setting the Olympic Record of 1.19.22 sec in the semi final.

Adding to their Olympic medals collection, Tom Green and Jean van der Westhuyzen took home bronze in the men’s K2 500.  In another close race, it was a three way photo finish behind gold medalists Germany, to determine the minor places. Being the only men’s K2 team to back up from Tokyo, after the distance went from 1000 to 500m, showcases the hard work the duo were able to put in to achieve such a result. 

The duo, who won gold in Tokyo, said while they were a little disappointed to not be taking home gold, they were again pleased to be going home with another medal.

The Women’s K4 500m with Aly Bull, Ella Beere, Alexandra Clarke, and Yale Steinepreis made the A Final finishing 8^th , and Ella Beere, Aly Bull made the K2 500m A Final finishing 7^th.

Tom Green and Alyce Wood made the B Finals in their respective K1 500m races to finish off the campaign.

Of the Australian paddle team, nine athletes made their Olympic debuts, representing their country proudly. 

Paddle Australia CEO, Phil Jones, said the results in Paris 2024 were the product of many years of hard work but on and off the water.

“Firstly, a huge congratulations to all our athletes who represented Australia at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games so proudly,” said Jones.  

“Not only have our athletes delivered incredible podium results that will etch their name in the history books, they have inspired a whole new generation of paddlers back home in Australia to get involved in our sport. 

“The years of hard work, sacrifices and perseverance, was showcased every time one of our Aussies took to the water. 

“Whilst the overall team performance exceeded our medal target, we measure our success more broadly than just medals and Australia could not be more proud of our paddlers who supported one another at every turn.”

“Australia had the opportunity to get to know our athletes, not only through the incredible Channel 9 documentary commissioned by Paddle Australia, “Paddle to Paris”, but also through unprecedented coverage via new broadcast partner Channel 9 which again will help get more people involved in the sport. 

“We know behind every athlete there is a huge team that supports them to get where they are. Across our High Performance Program staff of coaches, performance support and operations, our One Team is made up of dedicated personnel who also made sacrifices to ensure our team was able to win well at these Olympic Games. 

“Thank you also to family and friends who supported our team on the ground in Paris but also from back home, but more importantly along every step of the way to get to the Olympic Games,” he said.      

Australia’s best ever Olympic Games was summed up adequately by Chef de Mission, Anna Meares. 

“I am so proud. Proud for them, of them and to be here with them,” Anna said.

“The way they have supported each other in success and in defeat, shown courage and been the great role models that they are, they have truly inspired the next generation.

“We have always talked about the Cathy Freeman effect. Now we have the Jess Fox effect, the Emma McKeon effect, the Ariarne Titmus effect, the Cam McEvoy effect, the Saya Sakakibara effect, the Keegan Palmer effect, the Arisa Trew effect, the Stingers effect, the Opals effect, the Harry Garside effect.

“The sky really is the limit.”

Anna said Australia’s success in Paris had been far-reaching back home, where more than 19 million Australians had watched Channel Nine’s coverage live and on demand.

The Australian Olympic Committee’s #AllezAUS campaign has reached more than 450 million social media users around the world, the TeamAUS Olympic Schools resources have been downloaded by more than 22,000 teachers, equating to almost 500,000 children connecting to the Olympics through curriculum-aligned activities in the classroom, and Australians around the country came together at the Olympics LIVE sites.

“The vision of Aussies celebrating our athletes at all hours, from all over the nation, really demonstrated the power of the Olympics to bring us together.”

To cap off the Olympic Games, Jess Fox and Alyce Wood were named new members of the Australian Olympic Team Athletes Commission, with Fox also elected to the IOC Athletes Commission, a role she will hold right through until the Brisbane 2032 Olympic & Paralympic Games. 

Jones said: “Planning has already commenced for the LA2028 Olympic Games.  We’ve already seen strong results from junior athletes in recent months, including gold for Kailey Harlen and Natalia Drobot at the recent U23 World Championships, showing we are on the right track as we move into a new Olympic Games cycle.” 

The job is only half done, with Australia now turning its eyes to the Paralympic Games that will see Curtis McGrath, Susan Siepel and Dylan Littlehales represent in the para canoe.  The Paralympics Games gets underway from 28 August.