Exceptionally this year, there were four of them to receive the “Isséen d’Or” trophy, intended to reward those who contribute to making our City shine. “As you can imagine, the choice was difficult as our city is full of talents who express themselves and figures who are accomplished through effort and work,” specified André Santini in the introduction to the ceremony. But there was a choice and it was Michel Quinton, director of the Lycée La Salle Saint Nicolas, who was the first to be invited on stage.
“Through you, we wanted to distinguish a man who is deeply human, intelligent, altruistic and remarkably invested in local life, express André Santini. Even more, I would like to salute your action in favor of the emergence, in Issy, of a center of excellence intended to train young people in digital professions, with two essential partners: ISEP, the prestigious school of engineers from the Catholic Institute of Paris based in Issy for more than ten years, and the Company of Priests of Saint-Sulpice, whose Seminary is one of the jewels of our City. Together, by adding your strengths, you make the future of Issy an attractive and desirable horizon. »
For the other winners, it was sports news that guided the choice. Indeed, the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games in which many Isseans athletes participated brought the City its share of medals. And to all gold medalists, all honor, the first to appear at the microphone in front of 2000 admiring people was Gaël Rivière. Member of the French Cécifoot team, Paralympic champion who thrilled millions of French people in front of their TV in the final, the young man, also a business lawyer within the prestigious Bredin Prat firm and very recent president of the French Federation Handisport, nonetheless remained humble and touching: “This reward is above all collective. Firstly because it is the result of a team performance but also made possible by all those who contributed to this success. Obviously I am thinking of National Education, the school of the Republic, which still knows how to make a worker’s son a lawyer, of our associative fabric which knows how to make a blind young man who plays football a champion. Paralympic, and obviously to parents despite modest situations who still sometimes know how to give values of commitment, determination and affection, which put into perspective all the rewards even as prestigious. This is why, to put myself in order with a generous fate, I chose to get involved with the French Handisport Federation because these Olympics showed that sport could be a weapon of mass inclusion. » Thunderous applause!
Other medalists, bronze this time, two foil fencers from the Mousquetaires d’Issy: the already well-known Maxime Pauty (31 years old), chief quartermaster in the 2nd infantry regiment of the Republican Guard, one of our four goddaughter military units, and already a gold medalist four years ago, and Maximilien Chastanet (28 years old) who discovered these Olympic Games for the first time. Buoyed by this Olympic performance, Maximilien Chastanet became French Fleuret Champion last December and the first French fencer to have won the national title in all age classes.
To conclude this ceremony which magnificently conveyed the values of the collective through these individual distinctions, Maxime Pauty gave a message of hope to the assembly: “You’re looking at people who are rewarded for success, but the people who succeed are often the ones who have failed the most in their lives. So I wish you a happy new year and don’t hesitate to take risks, to believe in your dreams and to fail, to fail, to finally succeed. »
The evening then ended on a gourmet note with the tasting of pancakes from our faithful bakeries including those of the “Isséenne d’Or 2023”, the double world pastry champion Nina Métayer.
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