Paralympic Games: the color of silver for Marie-Amélie Le Fur's farewell in athletics
The French Marie-Amélie Le Fur, silver medalist in Tokyo during the Paralympic Games in the long jump.
AFP - GUILLAUME SOUVANT
Text by: Farid Achache Follow
4 min
The French Marie-Amélie Le Fur finished in second place in the long jump this Saturday, August 28 at the Paralympic Games in Tokyo.
French Ambassador for Handisport, Marie-Amélie Le Fur leaves Japan with silver, her ninth medal in total, and can now devote herself to her professional career, and to her role as President of the French Paralympic and Sports Committee, after four Olympics .
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From our special correspondent in Tokyo,
It was five years ago on the plane home from the Paralympic Games in Rio.
Marie-Amélie Le Fur carefully held in her hands this box which contained her gold medal acquired in the long jump.
A night flight where the Frenchwoman still dreamed of standing.
Since then, time has passed and the tricolor athlete has returned to the Paralympic Games for the fourth time, in Tokyo, where she put her title on the line before retiring.
A silver medal crowns a long and successful career.
A life of sharing
"
I loved this competition, I loved sharing with the competitors,
" she said with a big smile that we can guess under her mask, a silver medal around her neck, still regretting this "
empty stadium.
".
In addition, Marie-Amélie le Fur admits that she has not felt her jumps for a few months.
“
I wanted to do at least 6 meters and I'm 6.11 meters and it's a nice silver medal.
I woke up with the stress of my first Paralympic Games and then I had fun.
I think it's a great ending,
”she says in the heat of Tokyo.
"
I will miss the Paralympic Games
"
Now retired, Marie-Amélie Le Fur remains the French disabled sports ambassador.
If the time for training and competition is over, the young mother will now devote her days to her professional life, and her role as president of the French Paralympic and Sports Committee (CPSF).
“
I will miss the Paralympic Games
,” she said before heading to the land of the Rising Sun. “
These are unique moments. We don't feel the same emotions at European or World Championships.
(...)
When we hear the Marseillaise, we say to ourselves that we are making France shine throughout the world,
”argued the quadruple world champion, also a territorial relations business pilot at the management staff. part-time EDF nuclear and thermal power plants. This multi-faceted life had given rise to sporting choices. Finished the track, the former “
hyperactive
”
girl
only focused on the long jump in Tokyo to hope for this ninth Olympic medal.
Face the gaze of others
Amélie le Fur says it, sport allowed her "
to face the gaze of others
" after her amputation under the left knee, following a scooter accident at the age of 15.
Sport has also allowed him to have different experiences.
“
Without the handicap, all these doors would not have opened,
” she admits with humility.
With two medals in Beijing in 2008, three medals in London 2012 and three medals in Rio in 2016, this new medal allows the one who dreamed of becoming a firefighter to leave the world of competition with a smile and accomplished duty.
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