Noemie Fox’s father Richard was on the end of a shocking moment in commentary for Channel Nine as he covered his daughter’s stunning gold medal victory at the Paris Olympics on Tuesday morning.
The Fox family had achieved a remarkable feat in Paris, sweeping all the gold medals, as Noemie joined her sister Jessica as an Olympic champion by winning the kayak cross.
At 27 years old, Noemie dominated the new Olympic whitewater event, triumphing in every round before clinching victory in the four-paddler final on Monday at the Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium.
It was a moment to celebrate and Noemie and Jessica’s father Richard Fox was providing colour on the broadcast with his fellow Channel 9 commentator David Culbert when the unthinkable happened.
Noemie Fox celebrates as she cross the finish line to become the third Olympic medallist in her family after her mother and her sister
A beaming Noemie finally gets to celebrate her achievement with her parents Myriam and Richard after her father was on the end of a blunt knockback by his Channel Nine colleague
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…’
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.
‘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.
While Richard handled the knockback with grace, it was a stunning moment that saw a father denied the chance to congratulate his daughter at the height of the emotional win.
Noemie could not believe she had achieved her own Olympic dream after watching her sister Jessica blaze the trail before her
Strangely, Channel Nine said Culbert did not deny Richard the chance to be with his family.
Wide World of Sports reported that Fox said, ‘Oh my god, oh my goodness,’ before asking to leave the commentary box to join the celebrations in ‘a request that fellow caller Dave Culbert had no problem with’.
‘You go down and jump in,’ he said.
‘Go down there, we’ll hear your reaction, we’ll get it when you go down there.
‘But you deserve to go down there.’
‘It’s crazy that it’s mine,’ Noemie said of the gold medal.
‘You don’t really dare to dream this big, but I really did this time and I dared to dream to get to the Olympics and then to get to that final.
‘When I saw in the last up (gate) that I was first, it was pure joy – there’s no words to describe that feeling.’
Fox was joined in the water by 30-year-old Jessica, who jumped in to celebrate after cheering her sibling all the way down the course.
While Noemie has long been a world-class paddler, she’s never been able to compete in an Olympics before with her superstar sister taking the only Australian selection spot available.
Jessica Fox jumps in the water to celebrate the moment with her sister after the event
The younger sibling said there were many times she considered giving the sport away, such was her sister’s dominance.
But the addition of the splash and dash event in Paris opened up another spot for Noemie to qualify alongside Jessica, who helped her prepare for the selection regatta.
‘I’m her biggest cheerleader, just like she’s mine,’ Noemie said.
‘To watch her win two golds and then to have her as my biggest cheerleader, it’s a fairytale ending.
‘She’s the greatest of all time in our sport … watching her win, it’s just such a privilege and inspiration and it really fuelled me.
‘When someone like that really believes in you and tells you ‘you’ve got it’, you’ve got to go and get it.
‘I got my moment and it’s my medal and we’re walking away with three gold medals in our family, which is insane.’
Fox celebrates with her supporters after claiming the memorable gold medal in Paris
Jessica said she was proud to see her sister achieve her dream.
‘I was so nervous, I just wanted her to do a good race … she nailed it,’ she said.
‘I’m just in awe of her … she’s an Olympic champion and she has worked so hard for that, I’m so happy for her.’
If the Fox family were a nation, they would sit in 16th spot on the overall medal table at the Paris Games.
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