Chinese kayaker Xin Quan has set out his mission to achieve his “ultimate goal” at the Paris 2024 Olympics as he bids to make Canoe Slalom history for his country.
Quan has been making great strides in the sport over the past two years, reaching the men’s K1 final at the ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships in 2022.
He then made his first ICF Canoe Slalom World Cup final in Pau that year, coming sixth, before reaching another final in La Seu in 2023.
His best performance came in Augsburg earlier this year where he ranked fourth and would have secured a medal had he not picked up two two-second penalties for gate touches.
China has never won a Canoe Slalom medal at the Olympics – a record Quan is determined to change in Paris.
“I will try to break through at the Olympics for myself and for Chinese history,” said Quan.
“The ultimate goal is the gold medal.
“In the past two years I have made huge progress so now I will become more and more confident in the future.”
Quan made his Olympic debut at Tokyo 2020 where he finished 17th in the men’s kayak. He is also a two-time Asian Games champion.
The 27-year-old is coached by Ye Yongtao but has also been receiving support from French coach Maxime Bottex over the past four months.
“The first thing is the psychological side and Maxime has really helped me with this aspect,” said Quan.
“The second part is the technique of slalom.
“When these two things combine together, it really helps me make progress.”
China has been posting impressive results in Canoe Slalom this year with both Quan and Juan Huang finishing fourth at World Cup level, while Ting Yang made history when she became the first Chinese paddler to win a world title courtesy of her women’s canoe junior success earlier this month.
Xin will be joined in Paris by fellow Chinese Canoe Slalom paddlers Huang and Shiting Li.
“Over the past two years, Chinese athletes have had the chance to compete more outside (the country),” said Quan.
“This is a good thing, and we will continue to do that.
“There are a more and more young generations starting to come up and because some of the older athletes are helping him, they are working well.”
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