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Cedric Joly celebrated the 2019 World Champion title in men's canoe event of the ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships that was held in La Seu d'Urgell. After the season he was considered one of the main favourites to fight for the French ticket for Tokyo Olympics with Denis Gargaud Chanut, the 2016 Olympic Champion from Rio de Janeiro. After the French selection races that were finalised this fall, there has been quite a lot of controversy.

 

 

All of this as well as some other issues that have been piling up for most of the year resulted in very difficult times for Joly.

 

 

"What hasn't worked, I've known for six months. When we had the confinement, the cancellation of the European Championships, all the imbroglio around the Olympic selection which was very poorly managed by the federation (Gargaud was announced selected before the federation backtracked), then the postponement of the Olympic selections was the last straw. We've been in Olympic selection for almost two years, with selections every six months. It was postponed a second time at that time. It broke my urge. I think they should have picked someone for the Games as early as the world championships. They have extended the selection. With Denis (Gargaud) and Martin (Thomas), we accepted the rules of the game. We prepared hard for London. And then, the Covid arrived and we were imposed a new selection in October. Six months ago, I lost the craving for this selection. I had stopped dreaming about the Olympics. It didn't make me get up in the morning anymore. With my trainer, my staff, my mental trainer, we identified that very quickly. Throughout the summer, I adapted my preparation. I did shorter blocks, only three weeks, with whole weeks of recovery at home to regain the urge. That’s all I was able to do to myself."

 

 

Cedric Joly was still feeling positive and had high goals after the winter training period, but it all went downhill with confinement, " Last year I was coming out of the world championships, I had a podium at the Pre-Olympics in Tokyo, I was still good in Australia in February. I felt very confident for the European Championships. After the confinement, I started from zero. I also had a hard time with equipment in the spring. It had to be the same boat as at the world championships and it wasn't. It was subtle and it took a long time to realize it. From May to July, we tried to make the adjustments, to no avail. I decided at the beginning of August to race with this boat in which I was not well. The boat was technically far too demanding, with balance problems, it lacked volume, flotation and glide. It cost me dearly."

 

 

25-year-old canoeist competed at European Championships in Prague, where he finished tenth and took part in the French Olympic selection in Pau, but was very disappointed afterwards. "I'm going to have to change gear, go test things, find myself wanting. Now I will take the time to reflect. Do I want to embark on a four-year project for Paris 2024 with all the sacrifices that this implies? It’s not obvious. It'll take three weeks or five months ... or maybe the desire won't come back at all," he says about the future.