Jess Fox knows plenty about the feeling of success.
The 30-year-old is a four-time Olympic medallist, an eight-time individual world champion — the most of all time — and a 51-time winner on the World Cup circuit.
Success is not a stranger.
But seeing her little sister Noemie earn a quota spot for the Paris Games surpasses all those achievements.
"Honestly, it was probably up there with winning the Olympics," Fox told media from Paris, where she is preparing for the Olympics next month.
"It was one of the best days of my life."
Noemie had to battle through five races at the Prague World Cup event to secure one of just three quota spots at the Games, ending up with a silver medal.
"It was so challenging, it's such a massive build up for her to come into that race," Jess Fox said.
"The Kayak Cross, a lot can happen, a lot can go wrong, you've just got to make it through each round until you make it through to the final."
Fox said watching her sister compete was as intense a task as she's ever been forced to go through, revealing that her heart rate peaked at the same as it does when she herself is competing.
"I have never been so nervous," she said.
"Being a spectator at that competition, normally I am also competing so I can focus on myself and keep an eye on her [Noemie's] results, but this time I was just a supporter, I was just there as her sister supporting her and it was so hard.
"My heart rate when she was racing was 185, which is nuts.
"To be fair I was running down the course. But still, it was abnormally high.
"I think I need to work on my emotional regulation when I'm watching Noemie compete."
Nevertheless, it was a tremendously emotional moment, resulting in wild celebrations when Noemie crossed the line.
"In the final, when she came out of the last upstream gate I was just screaming," Fox said.
"I lost my voice afterwards, and just crying, because she had done it.
"It was a really hard thing to be able to qualify and she believed and she worked so hard and she deserves it so much.
"It was just so much emotion and joy and love and happiness for her achieving that dream to qualify.
"At the finish line i jumped in the water and gave her a massive hug and it was just, all the tears and emotion came out.
Although Noemie is yet to be officially named in the squad, winning that quota spot was an essential requirement, with Paddle Australia and the Australian Olympic Committee set to announce the full squad later in the month.
Jess Fox, Tim Anderson and Tristan Carter have already been named in Australia's canoe/kayak slalom squad.
Heartbreak tempers Fox's golden week
Should Noemie make the squad, as expected, she joins something of a Fox family dynasty in paddling at the Olympics, joining her father — British paddler Richard Fox, bronze medallist at the 1992 Olympics — and her mother, Myriam Fox-Jerusalmi, who also won a bronze medal at the 1996 Games for France.
However, the events of the last week have been tempered by the sad news that Fox's paternal grandfather, Roger Fox, passed away at the weekend.
"It's been a tough week," Jess said.
"We've had emotional high and lows.
"My grandpa, my dad's dad, he was one of our biggest fans. He always had the live results and the video feed up.
"Unfortunately he passed away last Sunday, but what was really beautiful was that he knew Noemie had qualified before he passed away.
"It gave us some joy and some peace knowing that he knew, because he would have been so proud knowing that she had achieved that dream.
"He was meant to be in Paris, he had booked the tickets.
"It is really devastating knowing that he won't be there, knowing how much he was looking forward to it, but he'll have front row seats and he'll be cheering us on from up there."
At last weekend's World Cup event in Krakow, Roger Fox's legacy for British paddling was honoured with the British team wearing black ribbons.
"He was the reason my dad got into paddling," he said.
"He did a lot for British canoeing and actually the Brits had a really beautiful gesture and tribute to him over the weekend in Krakow … that was really beautiful."
Despite the emotional rollercoaster that June has provided so far, Fox was still able to set yet another record in paddling, becoming the first paddler to win all three events on the one weekend: Kayak, Canoe and Kayak Cross.
"Personal life and the things that happen, the distractions, these are all things that athletes have to deal with any time they train or compete, any time anyone has to bring their best to work or their performance," Fox said.
"I think it's something I've learned over the course of my career and worked with different people to come up with good strategies and techniques, having that self-awareness of when I [have a] low battery and what I need to do to put myself in the best head space.
"In Krakow, I felt emotionally drained.
"It was a really massive weekend of joy and love for Noemie qualifying and there was so much love in that, and there was also the devastation of losing our grandpa.
"Krakow was a really good exercise in learning how to manage that and stay focused and be able to compartmentalise and just get the job done, regardless of how I was feeling on the day.
"Because you never know how you're going to feel.
"You might feel amazing but you also might feel tired, flat, exhausted, drained, and you have got to learn how to dig deep and find that inner strength and manage those emotions."
