Philippe Boccara (born July 6, 1959) is a French-born

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

sprint kayaker who competed from the late 1970s to the early 2000s (decade). He appeared in six Olympics for France (1980 to 1992) and the United States (1996, 2000). He won a bronze medal for France in the K-4 1000 m event at the 1984 Olympics with teammates François Barouh, Pascal Boucherit, and Didier Vavasseur. Boccara also won six medals for the French at the

ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships The ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships are an international event in canoe racing, one of two Summer Olympic sport events organized by the International Canoe Federation (the other being the ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships). The World Cham ...

with four golds (K-1 10000 m:

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...

, K-2 1000 m:

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

, K-2 10000 m:

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, k ...

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phil ...

), a silver (K-2 1000 m: 1987), and a bronze (K-1 1000 m: 1990). In 2000, he became the first Kayaker to compete at six Olympics. This was matched four years later by German-born Italian Josefa Idem-Guerrini and German

Birgit Fischer Birgit Fischer (; born 25 February 1962) is a German former kayaker, who has won eight gold medals over six different Olympic Games, a record she shares with Aladár Gerevich and Isabell Werth, spanning seven Olympiads: twice representing East ...

. (Idem-Guerrini went on in 2008 to become the first canoeist to compete at seven Olympics.) He is the first French-born athlete to compete at six Olympics. This was matched by legendary French cyclist

Jeannie Longo Jeannie Longo (born 31 October 1958 in Annecy, Haute-Savoie) is a French racing cyclist, 25-time French champion and 13-time world champion. Longo began racing in 1975 and was active in cycling through 2012. She was once widely considered the be ...

in 2004 and surpassed by her in 2008.

References

* * * 1959 births Living people French male canoeists French emigrants to the United States Olympic canoeists for France Olympic canoeists for the United States Olympic bronze medalists for France Olympic medalists in canoeing ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships medalists in kayak Medalists at the 1984 Summer Olympics Canoeists at the 1980 Summer Olympics Canoeists at the 1984 Summer Olympics Canoeists at the 1988 Summer Olympics Canoeists at the 1992 Summer Olympics Canoeists at the 1996 Summer Olympics Canoeists at the 2000 Summer Olympics {{France-canoe-bio-stub

See also

References