Nicolas Gestin

Gestin began paddling with his local club, Canoë Kayak Club Quimperlé.^[2] He made his first junior team in 2016, finishing 5th individually at the Junior Worlds in Kraków, also earning a bronze in the C1 team event.^[6] Nicolas received €1,000 from the Quimperlé community to help finance international travel.^[7] He dislocated his shoulder in August 2016, resulting in him missing the 2016 Junior Europeans and selection for the 2017 team.^[8] Gestin's breakthrough season was his last as a junior, where he earned four medals and made two World Cup finals. At the 2018 Junior Europeans he won a silver medal in both C1 and C1 team, followed by a gold in C1 team and a bronze individually at the 2018 Junior Worlds in Ivrea.^[9]

Gestin has won three medals at the U23 World Championships with two golds in C1 (2019, 2021) and a bronze in the C1 team event (2021).^[10] By winning the 2021 championship, Gestin became only the second athlete to win the title twice (after Roberto Colazingari^[11]) and the first to win it at consecutive events.^[12] Nicolas also won a gold medal in C1 at the 2019 U23 Europeans, an event which he did not compete in the following two years (in 2021 in order to prepare for the World Championships).^[13]

Nicolas' first races at the senior level were the last two World Cups of the 2018 season where he made both finals finishing 8th and 10th in Tacen and La Seu, respectively. He won a silver medal at the 2020 World Cup in Tacen. Gestin was coached by 1993 and 1995 vice world champion Anne Boixel until 2021 and now by French national team coach Arnaud Brogniart.^[3][14] He participated in the French selection trials for the 2020 Summer Olympics, finishing 6th.^[15] Gestin finished 5th at the 2021 European Championships in Ivrea.^[9]

Gestin won the gold medal in the men's C1 at the 2024 Summer Olympics.^[16]

He won five medals at the World Championships with four golds (C1: 2025, C1 team: 2021,^[17][18] 2023, 2025) and one silver (C1: 2023). He finished 4th in the C1 event in at the 2021 World Championships.^[19]

He won a silver medal in the C1 event at the 2025 European Championships in Vaires-sur-Marne.

Gestin won the overall World Cup title in the C1 class in 2022 and 2025.

				Total
C1	5	2	3	10

Year	WC1	WC2	WC3	WC4	WC5	Points	Position
2018	Liptovský Mikuláš	Kraków	Augsburg	Tacen 8	La Seu 10	106	21st
2019	Lee Valley	Bratislava	Tacen 8	Markkleeberg 15	Prague	66	30th
2020	Tacen 2	Pau				N/A[a]
2021	Prague 19	Markkleeberg 39	La Seu 9	Pau 8		138	12th
2022	Prague 2	Kraków 1	Tacen 15	Pau 4	La Seu 1	309	1st
2023	Augsburg 4	Prague 26	Tacen	La Seu 7	Pau 6	183	8th
2024	Augsburg 3	Prague 3	Kraków	Ivrea	La Seu 11	164	13th
2025	La Seu 3	Pau 35	Prague 1	Tacen 1	Augsburg 1	292	1st

Notes
^a No overall rankings were determined by the ICF, with only two races possible due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Year	Level	Venue	Event	Result
2016	Junior World	Kraków	C1 team	3rd
			C1	5th
2018	Junior European	Bratislava	C1 team	2nd
			C1	2nd
	Junior World	Ivrea	C1 team	1st
			C1	3rd
2019	U23 European	Liptovský Mikuláš	C1 team	9th
			C1	1st
	U23 World	Kraków	C1 team	4th
			C1	1st
2021	U23 World	Tacen	C1 team	3rd
			C1	1st
	European	Ivrea	C1 team	10th
			C1	5th
	World	Bratislava	C1 team	1st
			C1	4th