Quick Facts
Biography
Tony Estanguet (born 6 May 1978 in Pau, France) is a French slalom canoeist and a three-time Olympic champion in C1. He competed from the mid-1990s to 2012.
Racing career
Estanguet has won three Olympic gold medals in the C1 event, in 2000, 2004 and 2012. At the 2004 games in Athens he won the gold medal after a late judges decision to award a 2-second penalty to Michal Martikán.
Estanguet was the flag-bearer for France at the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics opening ceremony. He finished in the 9th position (out of 12 competitors; only the first eight would qualify for the final) in the semi-finals of the C1 event and was thus eliminated from the final.
At the 2012 London Summer Olympics, he became the first French Olympian to win three gold medals in the same Olympic discipline.
He won twelve medals at the ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships with five golds (C1: 2006, 2009, 2010; C1 team: 2005, 2007), six silvers (C1: 2003, 2005, 2007; C1 team: 1997, 2003, 2009), and a bronze (C1 team: 1999).
Estanguet won the overall World Cup title in C1 in 2003 and 2004. He also won a total of ten medals at the European Championships (4 golds, 3 silvers and 3 bronzes).
Together with his brother Patrice, he developed the Pau-Pyrénées Whitewater Stadium (opened in 2008) in their home town of Pau.
He announced his retirement on 30 November 2012.
World Cup individual podiums
| Season | Date | Venue | Position | Event |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | 25 Aug 1996 | Prague | 1st | C1 |
| 1997 | 3 Aug 1997 | Minden | 1st | C1 |
| 1999 | 20 Jun 1999 | Tacen | 3rd | C1 |
| 2000 | 30 Apr 2000 | Penrith | 3rd | C1 |
| 2 Jul 2000 | Saint-Pé-de-Bigorre | 1st | C1 | |
| 9 Jul 2000 | La Seu d'Urgell | 3rd | C1 | |
| 23 Jul 2000 | Prague | 1st | C1 | |
| 2002 | 26 May 2002 | Guangzhou | 1st | C1 |
| 2003 | 31 Jul 2003 | Bratislava | 1st | C1 |
| 3 Aug 2003 | Bratislava | 1st | C1 | |
| 2004 | 23 Apr 2004 | Athens | 1st | C1 |
| 23 May 2004 | La Seu d'Urgell | 1st | C1 | |
| 11 Jul 2004 | Prague | 1st | C1 | |
| 25 Jul 2004 | Bourg St.-Maurice | 1st | C1 | |
| 2005 | 17 Jul 2005 | Augsburg | 3rd | C1 |
| 24 Jul 2005 | La Seu d'Urgell | 1st | C1 | |
| 1 Oct 2005 | Penrith | 2nd | C11 | |
| 2006 | 2 Jul 2006 | L'Argentière-la-Bessée | 1st | C12 |
| 6 Aug 2006 | Prague | 1st | C11 | |
| 2007 | 18 Mar 2007 | Foz do Iguaçu | 1st | C13 |
| 2008 | 21 Jun 2008 | Prague | 1st | C1 |
| 2009 | 12 Jul 2009 | Augsburg | 1st | C1 |
| 2010 | 27 Jun 2010 | La Seu d'Urgell | 2nd | C1 |
| 4 Jul 2010 | Augsburg | 2nd | C1 | |
| 2011 | 9 Jul 2011 | Markkleeberg | 3rd | C1 |
| 2012 | 16 Jun 2012 | Pau | 1st | C1 |
| 23 Jun 2012 | La Seu d'Urgell | 3rd | C1 |
- 1 World Championship counting for World Cup points
- 2 European Championship counting for World Cup points
- 3 Pan American Championship counting for World Cup points
Education
He graduated from top French business school ESSEC, specializing in sports marketing.
Family
Tony is the son of Henri Estanguet, himself a canoeist who won medals at the Wildwater Canoe World Championships in the 1970s. His elder brother, Patrice Estanguet, won a bronze medal at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta.
Post-racing career
In 2012 he was elected to the IOC Athletes' Commission. He will serve as an IOC member for eight years.