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10/12/2024
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Sport
Lucie de Gennes
A medal-winning yachtswoman competing in the 2024 Olympic Games!
With a fourth place in the world in the senior category, as well as world and European championship titles in the youth category, 22-year-old Lucie de Gennes and Matisse Pacaud, in the 470 mixed duet, now have their sights set on the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
Their remarkable breakthrough at the highest level came in Stod Yam, Israel, on 29 October 2022, when they took fourth place with gold medal status in the senior mixed 470 World Cup (the name of the dinghy on which they excel as a pair). Despite their young age, the duo had already won the U23 World Championship title two months earlier, on Lake Balaton in Hungary. They went into this competition with nothing to lose and everything to gain.
This fine 4th place, just behind the duo of Camille Lecointre and Jérémie Mion (former world champions and Olympic medallists between them), reveals a promising duo full of ambition.
“I started sailing at the age of 12, taking lessons once a week at a small club down the road from my house. At the time, I was living in Lausanne, Switzerland. I had my first experience of Laser sailing on Lake Geneva. I immediately fell in love with the sport and started competing at the age of 14.
In 2018, during laser training in Cannes, I met Matisse Pacaud for the first time. Matisse wanted to switch to a different type of boat and suggested I give the 470 a try. From the very first training sessions, we got on really well and decided to embark on this new adventure together. After 2 years of training and competitions, we won the U23 world and European championships, which earned us a place in the French U23 team.
2022 was an exceptional year for us, with a 4th place finish at the senior world championships, motivating us to train even harder to achieve our goal: the Paris 2024 Olympics!
Lucie De Gennes
The duo of Lucie de Gennes and Matisse Pacaud.
The duo of Lucie de Gennes and Matisse Pacaud came together in 2018. He at the helm and she managing the spinnaker and the balance of the boat, making the most of her 1.85 metres. The sporting love affair was immediate and the team formed by these 2 talented sailors is just at the beginning of a great story.
“Lucie and Matisse are putting Cannes and France on the map around the world. After winning the World title in Hungary and the European title in Portugal in 2022, the two members of the Yacht Club de Cannes have just won the European 470 Championship again, this time in Poland in the Under 24 category. This second consecutive victory confirms their meteoric rise and rewards their talent, hard work and self-sacrifice in reaching the world’s elite. Cannes is a land of champions and more than ever a city of sailing and water sports, with its history and identity deeply marked by the sea.”
David Lisnard, maire de Cannes
