- Jessica Fox has issued an apology to her father
- She made a ‘savage’ remark about his achievements
- She reflected it was a bit harsh, 24 hours later
Jess Fox has apologised to her father Richard after making a somewhat cruel joke at his expense amid the euphoria of her sister Noemie’s victory in Paris.
Noemie made it a clean sweep for the Fox family on the water after taking gold in the kayak cross on Tuesday, adding to Jess’s double gold in the K1 and C1 events.
After Noemi’s victory, in which she saw off world No 1 Kimberley Woods of Great Britain, a delighted Jess aimed a light-hearted barb at her father, former British canoeist Richard.
Reflecting on what Noemie’s triumph means for the family, Jess quipped: ‘It means that poor dad (Richard) is the only one without an Olympic medal!’
Jessica Fox issued a public apology to her father Richard on Channel 9
Fox joked that her father Richard is the only family member without an Olympic medal
Jess has won a handful of medals, Noemie has her gold while their mother, Myriam Fox-Jerusalmi, won bronze at the Atlanta Games in 1996.
Twenty-four hours later and Jess has expressed her regret at making the comment.
‘I was pretty savage in my interview, and I realised after that was really mean, sorry dad,’ Jess joked on Nine.
‘You have a great resume, 10-time world champion, amazing … We’ve got four gold medals in the family, so there’s one for everyone.’
Richard was at the centre of an awkward moment after Noemie’s victory. Working on Nine’s live broadcast when Noemie crossed the line first, an obviously emotional Richard politely asked if he could leave the commentary desk to go and share the moment with his daughter.
But the response he got was as blunt as it was shocking.
Fox: ‘Channel Nine, can I go and see my…’
David Culbert: ‘No, just hang on for one second, because we do need to get your reaction.’
Fox: ‘Oh my god! Yeah, yeah, yeah.’
‘What a race, unbeaten in the heats,’ Culbert continued.
‘She nailed it,’ Richard said.
But she reflected that the quip was a bit harsh when asked about it 24 hours later
‘Things that you were worried about …’ he continued before tailing off, clearly wanting to be with his family.
‘When it’s close and you are under pressure, the faults come.
‘Aw they’re in the water,’ he said, watching his whole family dive in to celebrate without him.
‘How beautiful is that?’
Culbert was not ready to let him go just yet, though.
‘Golds in different events at the Olympic Games from the same family. That is a very, very short list unless they’re in a team sport and playing together,’ he said.
‘Jess jumps in, Miriam jumps in, you go down and jump in, go down there, we’ll hear from you, we’ll hear your reaction.’
Strangely, Channel Nine reported that Culbert did not deny Richard the chance to be with his family.
Wide World of Sports has reported that it was ‘a request that fellow caller Dave Culbert had no problem with.
