Cécile Hernandez is a French para-snowboarder and four-time Paralympic medallist, with a gold medal from

Beijing 2022 The 2022 Winter Olympics (2022年冬季奥林匹克运动会), officially called the XXIV Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Beijing 2022 (2022), was an international winter multi-sport event held from 4 to 20 February 2022 in Beij ...

, a silver medal from

Sochi 2014 , ''Zharkie. Zimnie. Tvoi'') , nations = 88 , events = 98 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , athletes = 2,873 , opening = 7 February 2014 , closing = 23 February 2014 , opened_by = President Vladimir Putin , cauldron = , stadium = Fisht Olympic ...

and both a silver and a bronze from

PyeongChang 2018 , nations = 93 , athletes = 2,922 (1,680 men and 1,242 women) , events = 102 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , opening = , closing = , opened_by = President Moon Jae-in , cauldron = Kim Yun-a , stadium = Pyeongchang Olympic Stadium , wi ...

. She competes for the teams and , as well as the French national Paralympic team; outside sport, she is a

customs officer A customs officer is a law enforcement agent who enforces customs laws, on behalf of a government. Canada Canadian customs officers are members of the Canada Border Services Agency. It was created in 2003 and preceded by the Canada Customs and ...

journalist and writer.

Life and career

Hernandez began her sporting career as a BMX racer in international competition before discovering snowboarding. On 21 October 2002 she experienced an attack of multiple sclerosis that paralysed her legs for two months. As a result, she stopped sport and took refuge in writing, publishing two books for and working for

Europe 1 Europe 1, formerly known as Europe n° 1, is a privately owned radio station created in 1955. Owned and operated by Lagardère Active, a subsidiary of the Lagardère Group, it is one of the leading radio broadcasting stations in France and its pr ...

(from 2011) and from 2012, covering the

2012 Summer Paralympics The 2012 Summer Paralympics, branded as the London 2012 Paralympic Games, were an international multi-sport parasports event held from 29 August to 9 September 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. They were the 14th Summer Paralympic Gam ...

in London. In May 2012, Hernandez arranged an endurance race for both disabled and able-bodied athletes, travelling from

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan language, Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, third-largest city and Urban area (France), second-largest metropolitan area of F ...

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefect ...

by bicycle and kayak. Then, in 2013, when she happened to try snowboarding again in the

French Alps The French Alps are the portions of the Alps mountain range that stand within France, located in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur regions. While some of the ranges of the French Alps are entirely in France, others, such as ...

, she was spotted by a member of the French para-snowboarding team. She was selected for the Paralympic snowboarding team for the Sochi Games in February 2014, with just over a month to prepare, but was encouraged by her performance at the World Para Snowboard World Cup the previous month. She won a silver Paralympic medal at Sochi, with a snowboard cross time of 2:07.31, and was named a knight of the National Order of Merit by then-president François Hollande in June 2014. In the 2014–15 season, Hernandez won the

grand slam Grand Slam most often refers to: * Grand Slam (tennis), one player or pair winning all four major annual tournaments, or the tournaments themselves Grand Slam or Grand slam may also refer to: Games and sports * Grand slam, winning category te ...

with all stages of the World Para Snowboard World Cup in both snowboard cross and banked slalom; leading her first full season gained her a Crystal Globe and she ended the season at La Molina crowned world champion in banked slalom and with a silver medal in snowboard cross. In 2015–16, still competing for the team, she won 10 races in the European and World Cups and 2 further Crystal Globes — a for leading the World Para Snowboard rankings and a for first place in the banked slalom — as well as the silver medal for snowboard cross. On 4 February 2017 at Big White, she won another silver medal in snowboard cross, winning the banked slalom silver 3 days later. At the end of the 2016–17 season the following month, with 7 spots on the podium, including 5 victories, she won a third and both for snowboard cross and banked slalom. She joined the team on 20 January 2017 with the aim of travelling to PyeongChang as a part of the French Paralympic team for the 2018 Winter games, where she won bronze in the snowboard cross and silver in the banked slalom. She won the silver medal in the women's dual banked slalom SB-LL1 event at the 2021 World Para Snow Sports Championships held in Lillehammer, Norway. She also won the gold medal in the women's snowboard cross SB-LL1 event. Hernandez is classified as a SB-LL1 snowboarder. Hernandez learned days before her competition at the

2022 Winter Paralympics The 2022 Winter Paralympics (), commonly known as Beijing 2022 (), was an international winter multi-sport parasports event held in Beijing, China from 4 to 13 March 2022. This was the 13th Winter Paralympic Games, as administered by the Inter ...

that she was allowed to compete. This was previously not permitted as there are no SB-LL1 events for female snowboarders in the snowboarding programme. She won the gold medal in the women's snowboard cross SB-LL2 event. She also competed in the women's banked slalom SB-LL2 event.

Personal life

Hernandez is married, to Frédéric, with a daughter, Victoire-Eléonore.

Works

* 'War of Nerves'' Monaco: Rocher, 2008. , * 'What's she doing mummy?'' Monaco: Rocher, 2009. ,

References

External links

Cécile Hernandez
at World Para Snowboard * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hernandez, Cecile 1974 births Living people Paralympic competitors for France French female snowboarders Paralympic snowboarders for France Paralympic medalists in snowboarding Paralympic gold medalists for France Paralympic silver medalists for France Paralympic bronze medalists for France Snowboarders at the 2014 Winter Paralympics Snowboarders at the 2018 Winter Paralympics Snowboarders at the 2022 Winter Paralympics Medalists at the 2014 Winter Paralympics Medalists at the 2018 Winter Paralympics Medalists at the 2022 Winter Paralympics Knights of the Ordre national du Mérite Le Figaro people 21st-century French women