Ludivine Furnon (born October 4, 1980 in

Nîmes Nîmes ( , ; oc, Nimes ; Latin: ''Nemausus'') is the prefecture of the Gard department in the Occitanie region of Southern France. Located between the Mediterranean Sea and Cévennes, the commune of Nîmes has an estimated population of 148,5 ...

) is a retired

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

athlete from

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. Although she attended dance classes from the age of eight, Furnon did not study gymnastics until April 1992, when she was eleven years old. Her rise in the sport was astonishingly rapid. In early 1994, less than two years after beginning gymnastics, she was accepted to train with the French national team in

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...

; by 1995 she was competing at the elite level. At her first French national championships, in 1995, she placed sixth in the all-around. In 1995 Furnon also made her international debut, competing with the sixth-place French team at the

World Gymnastics Championships Gymnastics World Championships refers to a number of different world championships for each of the disciplines in competitive gymnastics. The International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) organizes World Championships for six disciplines: acrobatic g ...

Sabae is a city located in Fukui Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 69,338 in 24,167 households and the population density of 820 persons per km2. The total area of the city was . Geography Sabae is located in central Fuku ...

. With her innovative and expressive

floor exercise In gymnastics, the floor is a specially prepared exercise surface, which is considered an apparatus. It is used by both male and female gymnasts. The gymnastics event performed on the floor is called floor exercise. The English abbreviation for t ...

routine, choreographed by coach

Adriana Pop Adriana Pop (born Adriana Rednic; October 22, 1965) is a French-Romanian gymnastics choreographer and former rhythmic gymnast. Career Adriana Rednic was born on October 22, 1965 in the Romanian city of Baia Mare. After taking dancing classes fo ...

, she won a bronze medal in event finals, the first ever for a French gymnast at Worlds. Furnon continued to be a major contributor to the French team for the next five years. In 1996, she became the French national champion and represented France at the

1996 Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

, finishing nineteenth in the all-around. She also competed at the 1996, 1997, 1999 and 2001 World Championships, qualifying for the floor finals on several occasions. In 2000, Furnon seemed to be on the brink of success again, winning the floor exercise title at the 2000 European Championships over a tough field that included

Elena Produnova Yelena Sergeyevna Produnova, also known as Elena (russian: Елена Серге́евна Продунова; born 15 February 1980), is a Russian former competitive gymnast. Her senior international career lasted from 1995 to 2000 and earned h ...

Simona Amânar Simona Amânar (; born 7 October 1979) is a Romanian former artistic gymnast. She is a seven-time Olympic and ten-time World Championship medalist. Amânar helped Romania win four consecutive world team titles (1994–1999), as well as the 2000 ...

and reigning world FX champion

Andreea Răducan Andreea Mădălina Răducan (; born 30 September 1983) is a retired gymnast from Bârlad, Romania. She currently works as a sports announcer and journalist. Răducan began competing in gymnastics at a young age and was training at the Romanian j ...

. However, at the

2000 Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

a few months later, Furnon was dealing with injury issues, and was only able to compete on the

uneven bars The uneven bars or asymmetric bars is an artistic gymnastics apparatus. It is made of a steel frame. The bars are made of fiberglass with wood coating, or less commonly wood. The English abbreviation for the event in gymnastics scoring is UB or ...

during the team portions of the meet. In 2008, Furnon was part of the cast of ''

Cirque du Soleil Cirque du Soleil (, ; "Circus of the Sun" or "Sun Circus") is a Canadian entertainment company and the largest contemporary circus producer in the world. Located in the inner-city area of Saint-Michel, it was founded in Baie-Saint-Paul on 16 Ju ...

'' in the production ''Mystere'' in

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

. Furnon has performed with her husband, Nicolas Besnard, in act named Duo MainTenanT since they both retired from Cirque du Soleil. Nicolas Besnard had his choreography recognized in the most prestigious Circus Festival in the world - Silver Medal in the 31st Festival Mondial du Cirque de Demain (France - 2010). In 2010, they appeared on France's Got Talent (La France a un Incroyable Talent) coming in 6th place overall. In 2019, Furnon performed with her husband, Nicolas Besnard, on America’s Got Talent. All four judges said yes to them proceeding to the next round of the talent competition.

References

Sources

External links

*
List of competitive results at Gymn Forum
*
Duo Osmose
{{DEFAULTSORT:Furnon, Ludivine 1980 births Living people French female artistic gymnasts Olympic gymnasts for France Gymnasts at the 1996 Summer Olympics Gymnasts at the 2000 Summer Olympics Sportspeople from Nîmes Medalists at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships European champions in gymnastics 21st-century French women