PROFILE

FABIEN, THE RIVER CAT

«I like to see myself as an artist on the water, working with it, moving smoothly, a pleasure to watch. Above all, I like to feel that I am taking people along in my wake, carrying them with me as they carry me,» confides Fabien Lefèvre, the «boss» in all things kayak since he first started competing at the age of seven (*).

Out with an injured wrist in 2007, Fabien has an enviable record in single kayak slalom: World champion in 2002 and 2003, Olympic bronze in 2004, world vice-champion in 2005, fifth in the world in 2006 and Olympic silver in 2008 !  Who could wish for more? None other than Fabien himself! He is now aiming for two Olympic medals in London in 2012 – one in single kayak and one in double canoe! «True, I’m already a champion… but not an Olympic champion! Without that, something’s missing. Yes, I’m not yet satisfied, something’s missing, something to crown my career …»

With K1 bronze at the 2011 World Championships and double canoe (C2) silver with Denis at both the 2010 and 2011 Worlds, things are shaping up nicely…

TEAM-MATE DENIS ON FABIEN

«Fabien is like a best friend, a brother, a substitute big brother who makes me do serious things. We understand one another best when we’re in the boat. There we’re always in agreement… and it’s just as well!!!»

TRAINER JEAN-YVES CHEUTIN ON FABIEN(*)

«He’s a one-off and always has been. He’s so creative in slalom that I have to invent things especially for him. No-one sails as cleanly as he does. In this, he’s simply the best in the world. He is the only kayaker around today who is capable of winning Olympic medals in single kayak and double canoe.»

(*) Until 2004, Fabien and Jean-Yves were K-1 (single kayak) rivals

MEMORABLE FIRSTS

FIRST VICTORY… A TIME-KEEPING ERROR?

At six, Fabien Lefèvre starts paddling a kayak on the Loire and Sauldre rivers near Orleans. At the age of seven in only his third race, he wins a regional slalom at the foot of the Chateau d’Amboise where Leonardo de Vinci is buried. He easily beats rivals who are three years older than him. Those watching, think there might be a time-keeping error. But no, the little fellow really has pulverized the big boys. «I was pumped up, keen to win,” Fabien recalls. «Above all, I remember using the current to propel me rather than fighting against it, without really being able to explain what I was doing.»

HIS MOMENT ARRIVES… ONE YEAR LATE?

In his first year as a cadet (U17), he is already in the French junior (U19) national team… punching above his weight, as usual! In his first year as a junior, he trains with the senior (19+) French national squad but remains at the «Espoirs» (Rising Stars) training centre in Pau. In his first year as a senior, he heads for the French national training centre on the Garonne River in Toulouse. The World Championships, due to take place in the United States, are cancelled because of the 9 /11 terror attacks. His moment may be due, but… not for another year.

A FIRST NICKNAME… FROM OUT OF THIS WORLD?

In August 2002, Fabien Lefèvre becomes world champion on home turf, taming the huge stoppers of Bourg Saint-Maurice (Savoie). He goes on to win the World Cup. He is still only 20. Already, some are calling him the «extraterrestrial» (alien). After his Olympic bronze in 2004, some say he has revolutionized the discipline and rename him «Fabulous Fab»!

FABIEN’S MEMORABLE MOMENTS

THE STORY OF THE MEDALS THAT MATTER

WORLD CHAMPION 2002: «LAST GASP, BY A HEAD…»

«On the final stop of the first run, I make a stupid error in my line: afraid of approaching too low, my approach is a little too high. To put things right, I improvise… a quick-fix. I have to dig deep. I lean back, duck my head under just in time… and finish with a surprising lead of two or three seconds!! Some people thought I’d planned it all along: not at all! Since then, this quick fix has the name ‘le stop tête’ (the head stop).»

WORLD CHAMPION 2003: «BACK TO THE WALL…»

«I start the second run of the final with a lead of 1.65 seconds. Midway through my blade slips on a thin layer of weed covering the wall from which I’d hoped to push off. Things go part belly up… and, of course, I touch the gate!  With my back against the wall, I have to accelerate from gate 12. I up my rhythm and grit my teeth. Of course, I’m going too fast into the final gate. I’m going so fast, I touch it. In my head, I’d lost it in the final sprint and yet, in spite of everything, I win with 1.6 seconds to spare My first thought? Done it, I’m sure to make the (Olympic) Games (*)! As a result, I didn’t quite take in the fact that I’d just retained my title.»

(*) The title guaranteed an automatic place for the 2004 Olympics.

OLYMPIC BRONZE 2004: «TRIAL OF STRENGTH…»

«I’ve barely begun the first set of the semi-final and I touch the first gate. What a great start to the Games! I cop two penalty seconds. Four years of preparation for this, it’s the pits! I finish the run in 5^th place …. During the second run I take so much care to get cleanly through the first and second gates, I negotiate them so well that I touch the third gate! And I touch because of something that never happens: lifted by a wave, I touch with the front tip of the kayak. I now know it’ll be hard to win the Olympic title. But I keep on fighting right through to the finish. I had to dig deep to win this medal, it was a constant struggle against the movement of the water. I came through thanks to a huge amount of intensive technical and physical preparation. Without that, I would have sunk!»

OLYMPIC SILVER IN 2008: «A SHADOW OF HIMSELF…»

«As a host of top seeds like Tony Estanguet had come unstuck in this treacherous pool, I was knocked off my guard. I was never really able to let go, always a tad below par, on edge at almost every gate, haunted by the thought that a penalty costs dear in the Games, always stressing about missing a gate. Incapable of breaking free! Unlike the Olympic champion (German Alexander Grimm), I couldn’t raise my game when I needed to. I wasn’t able to produce that dream run that Benoît Peschier produced to become Olympic champion in 2004.»