For someone who has done it all, won it all, motivation in Paris has not been hard to find for Jess Fox.

Her standing in her sport is already unimpeachable, and as a flag-bearer at Friday’s opening ceremony she quite literally became the sporting face of Australia, beaming as ever.

But when you’re as great as she is, you’re allowed to be greedy in the pursuit of more greatness. And something certainly was missing.

The most significant victory of Fox’s career came in Tokyo three years ago, when she won Olympic gold in the canoe singles. Of her four Olympic medals it was her only gold, and with that victory she cemented her status not only as an Australian sporting great but as a sentimental favourite among those watching back home.

But like so many others whose career highlights came in the unique isolation of the Tokyo Games, there had to be a certain hollowness to it. Only minor, of course, but still very real.

There was no crowd in Tokyo, and a distinct feeling of separation for the athletes due to COVID protocols. It was sadly not a time for leaping into a loved one’s arms in celebration of the greatest moment of your life.

Fox deserved an Olympic gold medal moment she could share with her whole heart and with the whole world.

She was the hot favourite for the kayak singles, as she will be in the canoe singles and kayak cross, and many among the thousands that made up the towering wall of spectators came to help deliver Fox that very moment.

They were not disappointed.

The Fox’s, surely Australia’s Olympic Royal Family, had representation everywhere.

Jess was in the water, while sister Noemie was strolling its banks snapping pictures and soaking up every last bit of her own Olympic dream. Dad Richard was up in the broadcast booth, mum and coach Myriam was riding every bump and stroke next to the course.

In the crowd, a four-strong group of Aussie fans had J-E-S-S spelled out across their green and gold t-shirts. Aside from the ear-splitting ovation reserved for French canoeist Camile Prigent, Fox brought the loudest cheers when she hit the water.

Born in Marseilles, she had hoped to cash in on a little bit of home-town support.

The crowd audibly gasped as she ducked and weaved through some of the early gates, and by the time she had begun her sprint for the finish the stands were shaking.

As an aside, what an absurdly difficult sport this is.

These athletes are literally fighting back against nature — or at least a man-made replica of nature — as they overpower currents and steamroll waves.

It’s power and grace in equal measure, speed and skill with just a hint of acrobatics thrown in. You could say it of many sports at these Games, but can you imagine if any of us mortals ever tried this?

In the face of all that, Fox is a picture of calmness. More than any other woman on the water she appears in total control of the elements, moving meticulously where others thrashed and wailed.

In the semifinal, that came at a cost.

Fox’s time was good enough only to make the eighth-fastest qualifier, nearly six seconds behind the leader and Tokyo K1 gold medallist Ricarda Funk of Germany.

There were some raised eyebrows and pointed conversations behind the scenes in the wake of that run, but little concern. Fox’s gameplan for the final would be unchanged regardless of where she had qualified — simply making it through was all that concerned her.

Only a couple of hours later, her pace-setting run in the final was absolutely breathtaking. Right from the jump she was absolutely flying.

Fox won her gold medal through the middle third of the course, a perilous stretch that demanded a sequence of hairpin turns with the forces of the water at their strongest.

Almost every other canoeist came unstuck through that stretch. Fox surgically dismantled it.

In the end her slower semifinal time almost turned into an advantage. Having set a ridiculous time of 96.08 in her final run each of the remaining seven athletes became acutely aware that only something special could beat her.

A few came close, and reigning champ Funk looked well and truly on track to begin with. But then came that middle stretch, where in her desperate pursuit of precious seconds she came unstuck and unravelled.

It was at that moment that Fox, sat away from the action and anxiously watching on screen like every single Aussie up in the wee hours to follow along, knew she was an Olympic gold medallist again.

The tears flowed as she embarked on her cavalcade of hugs, embracing one after another so many people that had taken Fox to this moment.

She stood on the Olympic dais with her arms aloft, surrounded by green and gold and love, and was overwhelmed.

Now Jess Fox really does have everything.