Linda Le Bon (born 20 July 1964) is a para-athlete. She competes for her native country

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

para-alpine skiing Paralympic alpine skiing is an adaptation of alpine skiing for athletes with a disability. The sport evolved from the efforts of disabled veterans in Germany and Austria during and after the Second World War. The sport is governed by the Internat ...

and for

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

in paraclimbing. She competes in the B2 category, which is for visually impaired athletes. She has a vision impairment as a result of

macular degeneration Macular degeneration, also known as age-related macular degeneration (AMD or ARMD), is a medical condition which may result in blurred or no vision in the center of the visual field. Early on there are often no symptoms. Over time, however, som ...

. Her sight guide for skiing is nominally Pierre Couquelet.

Career

Alpine skiing

Le Bon competed at the

2021 World Para Snow Sports Championships The 2021 World Para Snow Sports Championships was an international disability sport competition held in Lillehammer, Norway from 8 to 23 January 2022. It was the inaugural edition of the World Para Snow Sports Championships with para-alpine skiin ...

held in

Lillehammer Lillehammer () is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Lillehammer. Some of the more notable villages in the municip ...

, Norway, winning the silver medal in the downhill and super-G events. Le Bon and her sighted guide and daughter Ulla Gilot qualified to represent Belgium 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 Inte ...

held in Beijing, China. Couquelet was originally scheduled to be Le Bon's sighted guide but he was not able to compete as her guide after failing a doping test due to an administrative error related to medication that he takes. Le Bon competed in five alpine skiing events. She was the flag bearer for Belgium during the

closing ceremony An opening ceremony, grand opening, or ribbon-cutting ceremony marks the official opening of a newly-constructed location or the start of an event.

Climbing

Le Bon lives in

Mühlbach am Hochkönig Mühlbach am Hochkönig is a municipality in St. Johann im Pongau district, Salzburgerland, Austria. Population Its population was 1,622 inhabitants in 2005. Location Mühlbach am Hochkönig is found approximately 8 km to the west of ...

and competes for the

Austrian Climbing Federation Austrian may refer to: * Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent ** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen, see Austrian nationality law * Austrian German dialect * Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ...

. She had her competitive debut at the 2023 IFSC Paraclimbing World Cup in

Innsbruck Innsbruck (; bar, Innschbruck, label=Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian ) is the capital of Tyrol (state), Tyrol and the List of cities and towns in Austria, fifth-largest city in Austria. On the Inn (river), River Inn, at its junction with the ...

where she finished fourth, being merged into the harder B3 category. She won her first medal the following event in Villars, reaching second place in the B3 category. She also competed at the

2023 Events Predicted and scheduled events * January 1 ** In the United States, books, films, and other works published in 1927 will enter the public domain, assuming there are no changes made to copyright law. ** Croatia will adopt the eu ...

IFSC Paraclimbing World Championships, reaching fourth place. In the 2024 season, she won her first gold medal (B2) in Innsbruck, after coming in sixth (B3) at the first competition in

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Le Bon, Linda 1964 births Living people Belgian female alpine skiers Visually impaired category Paralympic competitors People from Wilrijk Belgian blind people Alpine skiers at the 2022 Winter Paralympics Paralympic alpine skiers for Belgium 21st-century Belgian women Paraclimbers Austrian disabled sportspeople