The selection races for the French Canoe Slalom Olympic team took place at the Pau-Pyrénées Whitewater Stadium. The proposed team for Tokyo consists of the following names: Marie-Zélia Lafont, Marjorie Delassus, Boris Neveu and Martin Thomas.
After four days of exciting racing in Pau the names of those who will be proposed for the Tokyo team are known, however the selection process brought also some disappointment to two of the favourites to qualify for the team in men's canoe.
In a very strong French national selection races 2016 Olympic Champion Denis Gargaud Chanut and 2019 World Champion Cedric Joly failed to secure a ticket for Japan and were critical of the Federation’s selection process. It was Martin Thomas who showed the best runs and finished at the top of general classification in men's canoe.
In men's kayak the much-wanted ticket went to the hands of experienced Boris Neveu, 2014 World Champion and 2015 European Champion, while in women's kayak Marie- Zélia Lafont, 2017 European Championships bronze medallist, finished the selection races in the best position. A bit of surprise came in women's canoe event, where 22-year-old Marjorie Delassus took the spot in the Olympic team ahead of her more experienced teammates.
The selection process took into consideration general classification as well as various bonuses awarded to certain athletes according to the selection regulations approved last June.
Courses were set by Marianne Agulhon, who will also be setting the course in Tokyo, and Arnaud Brogniart, Yann Le Pennex and Benoît Peschier who were selected by draw.
"As always in races of this nature, one of the first important points is to put the athletes in the best possible conditions to perform. We had some remarkably organized races, which did indeed result in races and athletes who performed their best today. We had a fabulous week with very strong emotions. We went through the palettes of all emotions; joy, sadness, which we shared with our athletes on each race. At the end of this week we have the top four athletes and now we will all be behind them. So that in Tokyo we can have a good representation of our federation, our disciplines, and that we can perform, and win medals at Games. For the others who have not been able to make a success at these selections, we must turn now to the next goals and to the Paris 2024 Games, which present a major objective for France and our Federation," said Jean Zoungrana, president of the FFCK, after the selection races.
Source: https://www.ffck.org/2020/10/12/bilan-de-la-selection-olympique-slalom-a-pau/
6.11.2020
