A highly regarded French slalom coach has arrived in Japan aiming to increase participation, make use of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic venue and help paddlers deliver top performances on the global stage.
The Japan Canoe Federation has announced Jean-Yves Cheutin as its new Canoe Slalom Lead Coach in a bid to build a strong legacy from the Olympic Games in 2021.
Cheutin is a vastly experienced coach having worked for some of the biggest countries in Canoe Slalom.
Over the past three years, Cheutin has been a freelance coach which has seen him work with 10 National Federations and 16 athletes that all competed at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
It was a successful Games for Cheutin who played a key role in helping Poland’s Klaudia Zwolinska to secure women’s kayak silver as well as supporting the Australian, Spanish and Ukrainian teams and working with individual athletes and coaches.
But when Japan came calling, the 50-year-old, who represented France at Atlanta 1996, could not turn down the chance to take on a new challenge.
“Remaining in the same position can place you into routines so you can’t evolve properly so that’s why I am grateful for changing my roles,” said Cheutin.
“My wife is Japanese, so I have got to know Japan over the past 13 years.
“I go there regularly, and I have been in touch with the Japanese paddlers and community.
“The first contract with the Japan Canoe Federation is for four years but the aim is to go to Brisbane 2032 – and beyond!”
Japan’s Takuya Haneda made history when he became the first Asian paddler to win an Olympic medal in Canoe Slalom courtesy of his canoe bronze at Rio 2016.
But performances have dipped since then with Japan failing to win a medal at either Tokyo 2020 or Paris 2024.
“Japan hosted the Olympics in 2021, but they didn’t reach a final in Paris last year,” said Cheutin.
“While results are dropping, the situation now requires using this historical heritage to promote slalom within Japan to support the younger paddlers who seem to have a lot of talent.
“We need to establish a proper pathway, basing the preparation on the highest requirement of slalom for the future.”
Olympic Canoe Slalom venue in Japan
Cheutin has vowed to make improvements to the Kasai Canoe Slalom Centre, the venue for Tokyo 2020, in a bid to stage more competitions.
“We need to find a way to wider our use of the Olympic venue to see how we can transform this place into a high-level training centre,” said Cheutin.
“The training centre also needs more equipment.
“Hosting events could help ensure we get this as well as boost the athletes’ participation within Japan.
“Mobile obstacles need to be moved more often to wider the technical range of the athletes and bring extra excitement.
“We also need a kayak cross start ramp there.
“Tokyo is a big city and slalom is practiced nationwide with local venues which also need to be promoted.
“If we succeed in making the Japanese people interested in paddling, we could get a lot of new athletes.
“In Japan, there are sprint paddlers, slalom paddlers, marathon paddlers, freestyle paddlers. We need to make them come together and build a pathway.”
Next year will see Japan stage its first Asian Games since 1994 with Aichi and Nagoya playing host.
As well as targeting home success at the Asian Games, Cheutin is hoping Japanese paddlers and coaches will make their mark at the Olympics.
“A part of my job is to transmit my experience and contribute to the education of the Japanese coaches,” added Cheutin.
“Then, I hope Japanese coaches will one day coach Olympic medallists.
“You never know how the athletes will progress, but it seems that LA28 is a little tight.
“The target for LA is to get Olympic quotas, reach one or two finals and then we build for Brisbane 2032.”
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