Francine Distel: the ski champion dies at 90, twenty years after her husband Sacha Distel

Francine Distel: the ski champion dies at 90, twenty years after her husband Sacha Distel
Francine Distel: the ski champion dies at 90, twenty years after her husband Sacha Distel

A great figure of sport took his final bow at the end of 2024. Former Olympic champion Francine Distel died at the age of 90 on December 29, following a heart complication as reported Le Figaro at the start of the week. Remember that she was united in 1963 with crooner Sacha Distel, who died of cancer twenty years ago, at the age of 71. A difficult mourning for the former sportswoman who never parted with one of their photos taken 25 years ago, off the coast of Rayol-Canadel-Sur-Mer (). For 42 years, the pair who never left each other loved each other deeply.

Still according to our colleagues, his funeral took place on January 9, 2025, at the Saint-Jean-Baptiste church in Megève. In accordance with her last wishes, her ashes were partly scattered at the top of a ski slope facing Mont Blanc, but also within the Rayol family estate, in the crypt where her husband Sacha Distel rests. Until the age of 87, the deceased, who lived in complete peace in her chalet in Megève, continued to have an unconditional love for her chosen field. Its famous neighbors were none other than Petula Clark and Daniel Filipacchi.

An extraordinary destiny

Discreet and sunny, Francine Distel – whose father was a businessman and banker – was born on June 7, 1934 in . Coming from a bourgeois family and for her safety, she had was sent to Megève during the Second World War. It was far from the French capital that she discovered skiing, which she practiced at a very high level. Passionate and talented, the alpine ski champion quickly made a name for herself before being selected for the Olympic Games with the French team.

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In 1962, the person met Sacha Distel, from a terrace overlooking the slopes of Megève. For the couple, it was love at first sight! Not knowing how to ski, the famous jazzman – who had a romance with icons like Jeanne Moreau and Brigitte Bardot in the 1950s – quickly took up the practice. One day after their meeting, Francine and Sacha Distel unite in Megève before welcoming two boys: Laurent (1964) and Julien (1967) who started skiing at the age of 3. During the school year, the clan lives in Paris and goes into exile in Megève for four months a year.

As pointed out by Figarothe youngest of the siblings settled down in Megève, where he runs a real estate agency, while his older brother, based near Aix-en-Provence, manages the posthumous career of their illustrious father to whom they owe hits as The sun of my life or even The Good Life, in addition to his publishing company. With his essential musical repertoire, Sacha Distel who dedicated the title My wife his half had the merit of forever marking French music lovers. Francine and Sacha Distel were also grandparents of three grandchildren named Alexandre, Ylan (19 years old) and Maé (16 years old).

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