Charline Picon, the most titled Frenchwoman in Olympic sailing, announced to AFP Friday to retire at 40, after having won three medals during the last games, including gold in windsurfing in Rio in 2016. If she closes the Olympic chapter, she does not exclude other experiences in professional sail: “I leave the door open (…). I like to sail, I like to be on the water, ”she explains to AFP.
After having survived last May at the sinking of her family catamaran off the Marquesas Islands, during a world tour with her daughter and her spouse, she now wishes to devote more time to her relatives, transmission and new horizons, including a documentary on the mental preparation of athletes.
A historic Olympic title to his credit
The native of Royan (Charente-Maritime) will have marked the history of her sport by her exceptional record, her longevity and her ability to return to the highest level after a pregnancy. In addition to her Olympic title in Rio, which makes her the first Frenchwoman sacred in windsurfing since Faustine Merret (OJ of Athens 2004), she has in this discipline a silver medal at the Olympic Games in Tokyo (2021), a world title (2014), four European titles, and was distinguished “sail of the year” in 2016.
At the Olympic Games in Paris 2024, Charline Picon achieves a spectacular conversion of the windsurfing at the 49er FX, a light dinghy with two team members, and won bronze with Sarah Steyaert. A third savory place “like a gold medal”, she says, the “Mama Team” embodying a double return to the top after maternity.
Charline Picon had brilliantly resumed the competition after the birth of his daughter Lou in 2017, even granting himself the title of world vice-champion in Aarhus (Denmark) in the summer of 2018, only three and a half months after taking the training.
