Since October 30 and the death of track cyclist Charles Coste, Jean Laudet was the oldest French Olympic champion. Ill for several months, he in turn passed away, at the age of 95, on Saturday December 20 in Nevers, his hometown. He and Georges Turlier brought France its first Olympic gold medal in canoeing, during the 10,000m two-seater event at the Helsinki Games in 1952. Not broadcast on television, their victory went relatively unnoticed, the special correspondent of the Monde noting, however, their « course fort sage »allowing this July 27, 1952 not to end “without the tricolor flag being hoisted on the victors’ pole”.
Inventors of a new paddling technique focusing more on balance than on strength and still used today, the two Nivernais were pioneers of the discipline. The French Canoe-Kayak Federation paid tribute, Monday, December 22, to “a man of great elegance, always full of communicative energy and looking to the future conscious of having lived “a good life””.
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