Boris Neveu has a controversial history with the Games and is finally hoping for a medal.
World champion in single-seater kayaking (K1) in 2014 and 2021, Boris Neveu is nevertheless often unlucky at the Olympics, even if he prefers to talk about “small strokes of bad luck”. In 2012, the selections, which took place in Pau, gave Boris Neveu the victory on the evening of the last selection race. But 30 minutes after the last competitors had passed, when people began to congratulate him on his “ticket” to London, we learned that it was ultimately Etienne Daille who was the winner. “One of the most difficult moments of my career…” explains the kayaker.
In 2016, while he was the clear favourite in the selection races, he was beaten in the final race by 6 hundredths of a second by Sébastien Combot, who would go to Rio in his place. “He was better than me. That’s the game. At the time, you get a slap in the face but I did my best. Nothing to do with 2012, when we didn’t play by the same rules,” explains the kayaker.
A little behind between 2016 and 2021, Boris Neveu still managed to win a gold medal in team kayaking at the 2021 World Slalom Championships. But in Tokyo, things still went badly despite his Olympic qualification for the first time. “I wanted to see more than that. It wasn’t the madness of the Games, no spectators, no excitement.” “I always dreamed of going to the Games to bring home a medal,” unfortunately he finished 7th.
Blocked by the Breton Titouan Castryck, he hopes to win the Olympic quota in kayak-cross “After Tokyo, without this new discipline, I would not have continued. Kayak-cross makes me laugh” he explained.