By dominating the Canadian favourite Aurélie Rivard in the final of the 100m freestyle S10, the 24-year-old Frenchwoman achieved a magnificent feat to offer a 6th title to France.
A huge smile as she entered the arena, and another, even more radiant, a few minutes after having achieved one of the feats of these Paralympic Games in the French camp. Namely beating the Canadian Aurélie Rivard, five-time Paralympic champion and four-time world champion. This could be the summary of the day experienced by Emeline Pierre who, by her own admission, had presented herself in this 100m freestyle in the S10 category in the shoes of a «outsider». But carried by the atmosphere from which she was able to feed, the 24-year-old Frenchwoman, very close to Ugo Didier and Alex Portal with whom she is part of the same generation, ran the perfect race. Or almost.
The only downside was her start, which was only average. But behind, she got the machine going and halfway through the race, she was ideally placed just in front of the Canadian, six hundredths behind in the next corridor. In the lead, the Italian Alessia Scortechini was not going to be able to keep up the same pace and the Transalpine had to let the Frenchwoman and the Canadian explain themselves during the last 30 breathless meters. An extraordinary mano a mano from which Emeline Pierre emerged victorious in 1’00’42 against 1’00”82 for her rival Rivard. A magical performance, which was well worth a great explosion of joy and… a memory lapse when it came to comment on her exploit on France Télévision.
Three years ago after Tokyo I really suffered, my mental health was at its lowest.
Emeline Pierre
“Honestly, I have no memory of the race, I just tried to manage it in my own way”she said with a smile that she would keep for a long time to come. “As I know how to do it, with my strengths. I was very stressed, and I couldn’t sleep all day. I wanted so much to do well in front of this crowd and get on the box. I managed to do my race. I can’t be happier than that.” And the swimmer born in Pau looks back on her last painful years: “Three years after Tokyo (8th final of the 100m backstroke and not qualified for the final of the 100m freestyle) I really suffered, my mental health was at its lowest. I arrived in Brest without the slightest self-confidence and all the people who welcomed me there helped me rebuild myself, to believe in my project again and I will never thank them enough.”
Which does not mean that her year 2024 was a long quiet river, however, as the former gymnast suffered a dislocation of her right elbow during a fall on the beam followed by complications that now prevent her from being able to use it normally. “With my staff, despite a complicated winter and a European Championships after which I wondered what I was going to be able to do here, we worked hard so that I would be ready at the right time, for these Games. The last two months have been fantastic and I couldn’t have dreamed of anything better.” Emeline Pierre brings France its 23rd medal, the 6th gold of these Paralympic Games.
