When Caroline Brunet achieved her incredible exploits on the world stage, Maxime Boilard knew it could be possible for him as well. He showed his potential talent at the first set of Olympic team trials in April upsetting former world champion Steve Giles in both the C-1 500 and C-1 1,000 metre races. After those performances, it appeared Giles was in trouble for a berth at the Olympics.

  But Boilard suffered an injury to his right shoulder prior to the second set of trials and the rivals agreed to split the Olympic assignments. Boilard will race the C-1 500 and Giles the C-1 1,000.

 "Caroline showed through hard work what could be achieved," said Boilard who also developed his paddling skills in Lac-Beauport. "She's been a real inspiration. I've been waiting for the type of performances I did at the first trials for a long time. I came close to beating Steve last season in the 500. That gave me confidence that I could make the Olympics in the solo events. I've trained like crazy since then to get to this point."

2000 Games
Oct. 1: Men's 500m C-1: Maxime Boilard, Lac-Beauport, finished fourth in final.
Sept. 27: Men's C-1, 500m: Maxime Boilard, Lac-Beauport, finished fifth in heat, moved to semifinals.

Photos
Canada's Maxime Boilard his 500m C1 heat


2000 Games Canoe & Kayak Coverage