Despite competing in three Olympics, it doesn’t seem to ever get old for Quebec kayaker Émilie Fournel who departed from Pierre-Elliott Trudeau Airport in Dorval for the Rio Olympic Games on Monday.
“Being able watch the Olympic Opening Ceremony on Friday night, I was like an eight-year-old kid on the couch screaming and stuff so I was clearly pretty excited,” Fournel said.
The Canadian kayak team decided not to participate in this year’s opening ceremony because they wanted to stay focused.
“We decided that it was better for us to train the longest in Canada on good water with our own boats and with the environment that we were used to,” Fournel said.
Fournel will be competing in singles K1 500m sprint as well as the relay K4 500m.
She finished in the singles K1 event in 2012 in London and 10th at the 2008 Beijing Games.
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“For me, it’s the third time around and I have big expectation for myself, I want to do better than I did in the last two Olympics,” she said.
After all the years of high level competition, what drives Fournel isn’t necessarily a medal.
“When you see people going on the podium, it’s a representation of the perfect execution of what you’ve been doing for the longest time,” said Fournel.
“Just saying it makes me have chills because that’s what it’s all about.”
Fournel comes from a family of kayakers.
Her brother Hugues Fournel will also be competing in Rio in the K2 doubles competition.
The family’s success stems from their parents, who were also elite paddlers.
Their mother, Guylaine St-George is a Pan-American kayaker, while their late father, Jean Fournel, competed in canoeing during the Montreal 1976 Olympic Games.
“They were born in a kayak because I was paddling, he was paddling, so all the time we lived very close to the canoe club in Lachine,” St-Georges said.
“This is where they grew up.”
Fournel’s first race is on Aug. 17.
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