“The happiest day of my life? Yes. The problem is that there are a lot of them at the moment, of the happiest days of my life,” laughs Alexis, a few minutes after dominating the head and legs over German Benedikt Duda in the singles final, a scathing four to zero (11-5/11-8/11-6/11-2).
The eldest Lebrun became the third French European champion at the age of 21, eight years after Emmanuel Lebesson in Budapest and almost half a century after Jacques Secutin in Prague (1976). And the two brothers achieved a doubles performance earlier in the day that had not been seen for 24 years.
A silver medal at the world team championships at the start of the year, two Olympic bronze medals this summer, and now two European titles, in singles and doubles: the year 2024 is more than ever the year of Lebrun.
“It’s a moment that we wanted to experience together so to have experienced it here, so early in our career, it’s incredible,” savored Félix, the youngest, 18 years old, who celebrated the won doubles title with his brother with a +check+ mixing a little boxing and volleyball, before dropping to the ground with happiness.
And if there is one who will no longer touch the ground on Sunday, it is Alexis Lebrun.
Alexis walks on water
A few minutes after the doubles, he came to conclude an impeccable competition, and a perfect day where he did not lose a set in three matches, finally playing against the German Duda who the day before had knocked out Félix in the quarter-final of the competition.
“I can’t believe it, I had a crazy tournament, with a level I’ve never played at, it’s like a dream for me to win on both counts, I didn’t expect not at all like that,” he said before going up to enjoy his two podiums.
Considered for a long time, like Félix, as a great hope of French table tennis, Alexis Lebrun very quickly climbed the world rankings, going from 1,050th place in 2022 to 28th.
Triple reigning French champion (2022, 2023, 2024), he particularly stood out on the international scene in April 2023, when he took on the N.1 of the time, the Chinese Fan Zhendong, future Olympic champion at Paris. Last June, the eldest of the Lebrun brothers won his first singles title on the world circuit at the WTT Contender in Zagreb.
“Always positive”
Not spared from injuries since the start of his career, Alexis Lebrun “built himself through difficulty, nothing went smoothly for him”, recalls his trainer, Nathanaël Molin.
Just before the Games, the eldest also had to face a more complicated period sportingly while his little brother continued to climb. “It was not necessarily linked to the fact that Félix was rising but more to me who was no longer winning many matches,” explains the main person concerned.
AFP/Archives / JOE KLAMAR.
After obtaining his place for the singles for the Olympics, he was eliminated in the eighth by the Brazilian Hugo Calderano. But still won the bronze medal in Paris, in teams, alongside his brother and Simon Gauzy, when Félix Lebrun added the bronze medal in singles to his harvest.
This time, at the European Championships, the elder took over, after the younger was eliminated in the quarter-finals.
“We’ve been laughing about it for two years, every time there’s one who misses a competition, who plays less well, the other plays even better than usual,” says Alexis.
“So there’s always something positive to eat.” For Alexis, the positive is two gold medals.
