Jérémie Azou (born 2 April 1989) is a French former

rower Rowing, sometimes called crew in the United States, is the sport of racing boats using oars. It differs from paddling sports in that rowing oars are attached to the boat using oarlocks, while paddles are not connected to the boat. Rowing is ...

. He is an Olympic, World, and European champion in the men's

lightweight Lightweight is a weight class in combat sports and rowing. Boxing Professional boxing The lightweight division is over 130 pounds (59 kilograms) and up to 135 pounds (61.2 kilograms) weight class in the sport of boxing. Notable lightweight ...

double scull A double scull is a rowing boat used in the sport of competitive rowing. It is designed for two persons who propel the boat by sculling with two oars each, one in each hand. Racing boats (often called "shells") are long, narrow, and broadly ...

Career

He was part of the French men's lightweight quadruple sculls team who won silver at the 2008 World Championships, with Pierre-Etienne Pollez,

Fabrice Moreau Fabrice Moreau (born 7 October 1967 in Paris) is a French-Cameroonian former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Played in 17 different clubs before retiring at 36, in 2004. Born from a French father and a Cameroon Cam ...

and Remi Di Girolamo. In 2009, he won silver at the

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

in the men's lightweight double sculls with Frederic Dufour. In 2010, he teamed with Di Girolamo to win bronze at the European Championships. At the 2011 World Under 23 championships, he competed in the lightweight men's single sculls, winning the gold medal. In 2012, he began to team with Stany Delayre. They finished in 4th in the lightweight double sculls at the 2012 Summer Olympics. An injury to Delayre meant that Azou competed in the lightweight single sculls at the 2013 World Championship, where he won the silver medal. Their team won the European Championships in

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

and 2015 and the

in 2015. They also won a World silver medal in

. The time of 06:11.38 Azou and Delayre set at the 2015 European Championships is still the fastest time at a European championships. They also hold the fastest time at a World Cup. In 2015, Azou and Delayre won the World Rowing Male Crew of the Year Award. He teamed with Pierre Houin from 2016, winning Olympic gold at the Rio Olympics, and then the 2017 World Championship title. He was undefeated in the men's lightweight double sculls from 2015 to October 2017. He retired in October 2017, announcing his retirement at a celebration of the renaming of the Avignon Rowing Club to Avignon Rowing Club: Base Nautique Jeremie Azou.

Personal life

Azou originally swam as a hobby before taking up rowing at 12. He is a trained physiotherapist.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Azou, Jeremie 1989 births Living people French male rowers Sportspeople from Avignon Rowers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Rowers at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic rowers of France World Rowing Championships medalists for France Olympic gold medalists for France Olympic medalists in rowing Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics 21st-century French people