Charles Paquet
Biography
Charles Paquet earned two of the biggest results of his career in the final weeks of the qualification window for Paris 2024. In mid-May 2024, he posted a career-best World Triathlon Championship Series (WTCS) result when he finished fifth in Yokohama, Japan. Two weeks later, he placed seventh at the WTCS in Cagliari, Italy. Both results were in Olympic distance events. They came about a year after he had finished seventh at the 2023 WTCS in Montreal which was a sprint distance race.
In his first year competing internationally, Paquet was a member of Team Canada at the Nanjing 2014 Youth Olympic Games where he placed inside the top-10. Five years later, he represented Team Canada at the Lima 2019 Pan American Games where he was part of Canada’s silver medal in the mixed relay and was the top Canadian in the men’s event, finishing sixth.
In 2016, Paquet won the junior men’s national title and went on to become the junior world silver medallist when he finished second in the junior men’s race at the World Triathlon Grand Final in Cozumel.
Paquet made his WTCS debut at the 2018 race in Montreal but began to make more frequent appearances on the elite circuit in 2021. In September 2021, he earned his first WTCS top-10, placing seventh in a sprint distance race in Hamburg.
In 2022, Paquet was part of Canada’s fifth-place finish in the mixed relay at the World Triathlon Sprint & Relay Championships in Montreal. He then competed at the Commonwealth Games where he finished in the top-10 in the men’s race. He went on to win bronze in the men’s race and silver in the mixed relay at the 2022 Americas Triathlon Championships.
Pacquet earned his first podium at a World Triathlon Cup in October 2023 when he finished third in Brasilia.
A Little More About Charles
Getting into the Sport: Competed in his first triathlon at the age of nine… Became serious about it as a sport when he failed to make the regional soccer team when he was thirteen… Was already competing separately in swimming, cycling, and running with local/school teams… Outside Interests: Attending Laval University… Hobbies include hunting and fishing… Odds and Ends: Inspired by cross-country skier Alex Harvey because of his work ethic and the pleasure he found in training… Sustained a stress fracture in one of his vertebrae that had him in rehab from September 2018 to February 2019…
Notable International Results
Pan American Games: 2019 – SILVER (mixed relay), 6th (individual)
Youth Olympic Games: 2014 – 9th (individual), 7th (mixed relay)
Commonwealth Games: 2022 – 6th (mixed relay), 10th (individual)
World Triathlon Championship Series Finals: 2023 – 24th (individual); 2022 – 54th (individual); 2019 – DNF (U23 individual); 2018 – 28th (U23 individual); 2017 – 30th (U23 individual); 2016 – SILVER (junior individual), 6th (Mixed U23-Junior Relay); 2015 – 9th (junior individual)
World Triathlon Sprint & Relay Championships: 2023 – 17th (mixed relay), 25th (individual); 2022 – 5th (mixed relay), 19th (individual)