For most members of the Australian Olympic team, this will be a Games away from home, but some athletes have French connections and they say it may just give them an edge.
If the French navigator Lapérouse had arrived in Botany Bay six days earlier in 1788, we might all be speaking French and preparing for a "home" Olympics in Paris .
She was born in France's second city, Marseille, and is the daughter of a French woman Myriam Fox-Jerusalmi and British man Richard Fox, both champion slalom canoeists. Her links to French canoeing remain strong because she now has a French partner, fellow paddler Mathiew Biazizzo. "I'm looking forward to the crowds and the unique concept of the Games , with events under the incredible monuments,'' she says."It would be too stressful for her to go," Fox says.
"It will be really special for my mum watching me compete at the Olympics in the place where she grew up,'' he says. "When I first joined the team I had no understanding of French and I felt a bit separate, but each year I have been learning French and spending more time there and understanding the culture and personality ,'' she said."I am not French but the team is excited about what I could do there. It's a little bit unusual for them to be so supportive when you are competing for a championship .Brown went to Paris in April to scout the road racing courses.
Sakakibara, who has a Japanese mother, had a taste of a home Olympics in Tokyo in 2021, and she is excited by the prospect of a French Games, given her growing love for the country. "It's a challenging track. There are big jumps for the women — bigger than we have at other tracks — but it's meant to challenge us.
Olympics Olympic Games France Jess Fox Cassiel Rousseau Grace Brown Ellie Carpenter Saya Sakakibara
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