Fabien Lefèvre (born 18 June 1982) is a French slalom canoeist who has competed at the international level since 1998. As a

permanent resident Permanent residency is a person's legal resident status in a country or territory of which such person is not a citizen but where they have the right to reside on a permanent basis. This is usually for a permanent period; a person with such l ...

of the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, he has competed for his country of residence since 2013. He represented

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

until 2011. He won two medals at the

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Summer Olympics or the Games of the Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, then part of the King ...

in the K1 event with a silver in

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

and a bronze in

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

. He has a son called Noe Lefèvre. Lefèvre also won fourteen medals at the

ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships The ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships are an international event in canoeing organized by the International Canoe Federation. The World Championships have taken place every year in non- Summer Olympic years since 2002. From 1949 to 1999, they ...

with seven golds (C1:

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

, K1:

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

; C2 team:

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

; K1 team:

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

), five silvers (C2: 2010, 2011; K1: 2005, K1 team: 2010, 2011), and two bronzes (K1 team: 2002, K1: 2011). He is the overall

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

champion in the K1 class from

. He also won two bronze medals at the

European Championships A European Championship is the top level international sports competition between European athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. In the plural, the European Championships also refers t ...

in the K1 team event.

Career

Fabien Lefevre began kayaking at the age of 5. At the age of 20, he won the K1 event at the

2002 ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships The 2002 ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships were held in Bourg St.-Maurice, France under the auspices of International Canoe Federation for the record-tying third time. It was the 27th edition. Bourg St.-Maurice hosted the championships previousl ...

in Bourg-Saint-Maurice. He backed up this result by winning the 2002 World Cup title. One year later he was able to defend the K1 world title in

Augsburg Augsburg ( , ; ; ) is a city in the Bavaria, Bavarian part of Swabia, Germany, around west of the Bavarian capital Munich. It is a College town, university town and the regional seat of the Swabia (administrative region), Swabia with a well ...

. These victories made him the favorite for the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

. However, he was only able to capture bronze after touching a gate in both semifinal and final run. He recorded the fastest running time but the 4 penalty seconds pushed him down to third. At the 2005 World Championships in

Penrith, New South Wales Penrith is a city in New South Wales, Australia, located in Greater Western Sydney, 55 kilometres (31 mi) west of the Sydney central business district on the banks of the Nepean River, on the outskirts of the Cumberland Plain. Its elevati ...

he won a silver medal in the K1 event, losing only to Fabian Dörfler. He won the K1 team title, however, together with

Benoît Peschier Benoît Pierre Peschier (born 21 May 1980 in Guilherand-Granges) is a French-Greek slalom canoeist who competed at the international level from 1997 to 2014. He represented Greece from 2009 to 2010. In 2013 he returned to the international sce ...

and Julien Billaut. He won the K1 team gold again in

, this time joined by Julien Billaut and Boris Neveu. He finished 5th in the individual event in 2006 in a race where two winners were declared by the ICF jury ( Julien Billaut and Stefano Cipressi). In 2007 a serious wrist injury prevented him from taking part 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 ...

Foz do Iguaçu Foz do Iguaçu (; "Iguazu River mouth"), colloquially referred to as Foz, is the Brazilian city on the border of Iguaçu Falls. Foz in Portuguese language, Portuguese means the mouth or end of a river and Iguaçu in Guarani language, Guarani or Tup ...

, won by his compatriot Sébastien Combot. He regained his place in the French team in 2008 and won the selection for the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

by defeating the reigning Olympic champion

at the French trials. Lefèvre was third after the semifinal run and improved to silver medal position in the final.

Benjamin Boukpeti Benjamin Kudjow Thomas Boukpeti (born August 4, 1981) is a French-born Togolese Whitewater slalom, slalom canoeist who competed at the international level from 2003 to 2012. Competing in three Summer Olympics, Boukpeti won a bronze medal in the C ...

, a friend of Lefèvre, won the first Olympic medal for

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with a bronze, while Alexander Grimm took gold. In late 2008, inspired by

Michael Phelps Michael Fred Phelps II (born June 30, 1985) is an American former competitive swimmer. He is the most successful and most decorated Olympian of all time with a total of 28 medals. Phelps also holds the all-time records for Olympic gold me ...

, he decided to take up the double canoe discipline (C2) together with

Denis Gargaud Chanut Denis Gargaud Chanut (born 22 July 1987) is a French slalom canoeist who has competed at the international level in C1 since 2004. Between 2009 and 2011 he also competed in the C2 category alongside Fabien Lefèvre. He won a gold medal in the ...

, while continuing to race in single kayak (K1) with the ambition to appear in both categories at the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

. Lefèvre failed to medal at the 2009 World Championships in

La Seu d'Urgell La Seu d'Urgell (; , formerly ''Urgell'') is a town located in Alt Urgell county in Alt Pirineu, Catalonia, Spain. The town is also the head of its judicial district and the seat of the Bishop of Urgell, one of the co-princes of Andorra. It is ...

in either category though. The extreme fatigue he felt after the races made him doubt his project. However, he continued in both categories in 2010 and ended the year with a silver medal in the C2 event at the

Tacen Tacen (; in older sources also ''Tacenj'',''Leksikon občin kraljestev in dežel zastopanih v državnem zboru,'' vol. 6: ''Kranjsko''. 1906. Vienna: C. Kr. Dvorna in Državna Tiskarna, pp. 114–115. ) is a formerly independent settlement in the n ...

. He also added a gold medal in the C2 team event and a silver in the K1 team event. A year later at the 2011 World Championships in

Bratislava Bratislava (German: ''Pressburg'', Hungarian: ''Pozsony'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Slovakia, Slovak Republic and the fourth largest of all List of cities and towns on the river Danube, cities on the river Danube. ...

he made history by becoming the first slalom canoeist since Charles Dussuet in

1953 Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma. * January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a Estonian government-in-exile, government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito ...

to win 4 medals at the same Championships. The success, however, was followed by a disappointment in 2012 after failing to qualify for the Olympics in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

in either category. Nonetheless, after 2012, Fabien moved to the United States and began competing as an American Canoe Slalom Athlete. Fabien began training with the Potomac Whitewater Racing Center (a U.S. Olympic Center of Excellence). Subsequently, at the 2014 World Championship in Deep Creek Lake, he won the gold medal in C1, becoming the first male slalom canoeist to win the World Championship title in C1 and K1.

World Cup individual podiums

¹ World Championship counting for World Cup points

Coaching in Performance and Healing

While Fabien was an Olympian and World Champion he learned to manage extreme levels of stress. He developed successful strategies and techniques to manage the heart, mind and body. His experience culminated in developing “a unique ''Integrative Method'', a creative mix of Coaching & Energy Medicine, to guide others to fully align with ''Who You Really Are'', with your ''Higher Purpose'' and live a healthier and more fulfilling life.” He serves as a coach to support people to integrate their mind, body and spirit so they can live fulfilling lives. This supports happiness, love, healing and even high performance. His current sit

https://quantum-coaching-healing.us/

References

2010 ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships 11 September 2010 C2 men's final results
– accessed 11 September 2010.
2010 ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships 11 September 2010 C2 men's team final results.
– accessed 11 September 2010.
2010 ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships 12 September 2010 K1 men's team final results
– accessed 12 September 2010. *
Paddling for the USA
– accessed 25 April 2014.

External links

* * * * https://quantum-coaching-healing.us/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Lefevre, Fabien 1982 births Living people Canoeists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Canoeists at the 2008 Summer Olympics French male canoeists Olympic canoeists for France Olympic silver medalists for France Olympic bronze medalists for France Olympic medalists in canoeing Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Officers of the Ordre national du Mérite Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Sportspeople from Orléans 21st-century French sportsmen