Mary Patrux (born 26 January 1979) is a French television presenter and sports journalist. She presents ''NBA Extra'' since 2013 on BeIN Sports, and participates on the events broadcast on the channel.

Early life and education

Mary Patrux was born in

Lesquin Lesquin () is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. Population Heraldry Economy When Flandre Air existed, it had its head office at Lille Airport and in Lesquin. On 30 March 2001 Flandre, Proteus Airlines, and Regional Airline ...

in the department of

Nord Nord, a word meaning "north" in several European languages, may refer to: Acronyms * National Organization for Rare Disorders, an American nonprofit organization * New Orleans Recreation Department, New Orleans, Louisiana, US Film and televisi ...

to a commercial father and a direction secretary mother. She grew up in the Lille suburb and then moved with her family to Cergy-Pontoise in the Paris region. Her father, her grandfather and her uncle were basketball players, nevertheless she practiced several sports before playing basketball. She obtained her license at the age of eight in Franconville. She evolved during all her childhood as a small forward and participated at detections at the INSEP. She acquired a reputation of a scorer, and conserved a certain admiration for players like

Stephen Curry Wardell Stephen Curry II ( ; born March 14, 1988) is an American professional basketball player for the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Widely regarded as one of the greatest basketball players of all time, ...

. After three years at the Notre-Dame de la Compassion high school in Pontoise where she obtained an economic and social

baccalauréat The ''baccalauréat'' (; ), often known in France colloquially as the ''bac'', is a French national academic qualification that students can obtain at the completion of their secondary education (at the end of the ''lycée'') by meeting certain ...

, she joined the Institut catholique de Paris from 1997 to 1999, and pursued with a degre in history at the

Sorbonne Nouvelle University The New Sorbonne University (french: Université de la Sorbonne Nouvelle, also known as Paris III) is a public university in Paris, France. It is one of the inheritors of the historic University of Paris, which was completely overhauled and rest ...

from 1999 to 2002. Having decided to become a sports journalist when she knew that she will not become a professional basketball player, she multiplied in parallel the internships passing by Ouest-France, BFM Radio, RTL, Infosport+, as well as the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs. Consequently, she joined the Institut Pratique du Journalisme (IPJ) from 2002 to 2004, where she graduated.

Television career

2004–2009 : Beginnings on Eurosport

In 2004, while student in second year of journalism, Mary Patrux did an end-of-year internship at Eurosport. She began covering the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

. First presenting the information bulletins live, she then completed with comments and presented reports at the occasion of special events. She stayed at Eurosport the following year. She multiplied the covered sports by notably doing field edge and presenting on stage.

2009–2012 : Presenter on L'Équipe TV

After five years at Eurosport, Mary Patrux joined in September 2009

L'Équipe TV ''L'Équipe'' (, French for "the team") is a French nationwide daily newspaper devoted to sport, owned by Éditions Philippe Amaury. The paper is noted for coverage of association football, rugby, motorsport, and cycling. Its predecessor was ...

to present ''La matinale week-end''. Three months later, she presented ''Forum l'Équipe'', a weekly program where she meets sportsmen such as

Nikola Karabatic Nikola () is a given name which, like Nicholas, is a version of the Greek ''Nikolaos'' (Νικόλαος). It is common as a masculine given name in the South Slavic countries (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, North Macedonia, Montene ...

Alain Boghossian Alain Boghossian (born 27 October 1970) is a French-Armenian former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He serves as an assistant coach for the France national team. Club career Born in Digne-les-Bains, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence ...

Laura Flessel Laura Flessel-Colovic (born 6 November 1971) is a French politician and épée fencer who served as Minister of Sports from 2017 to 2018. Born in Pointe-à-Pitre, Guadeloupe, she has won the most Olympic medals of any French sportswoman, with f ...

, Tony Parker and even Jean Alesi. She also presented ''Week-end Live''.

2012–present : Presenter on BeIN Sports

In early 2012, Charles Biétry proposed her to join BeIN Sports, still on project. Mary Patrux participated at the construction of the channel intervening on the hiring, the program schedule and even the choice of the program names. She appeared the day of the official launch of the channel five months after her arrival. She presented during the year the programs the ''Euroshow'' and ''Le Grand Stade'' in company of

Darren Tulett Darren Tulett (born 2 June 1965) is an English journalist who became a sports anchorman, presenting mainly football on French television. He was a presenter for Canal+ for a decade, and has worked for beIN Sport since helping to launch the channel ...

then of

Marie Portolano Marie Portolano (born 2 November 1985) is a French sports journalist and television presenter. She participated at the ''Canal Football Club'' from 2014 to 2018 and presented the program ''Canal Sports Club'' from 25 August 2018 to 6 March 2021. ...

for the second the year after. In 2013, Mary Patrux began presenting ''NBA Extra'', a daily program about the news of the

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

. The consultant

Jacques Monclar Jacques Monclar (born 3 March 1957) is a French basketball player. He competed in the men's tournament at the 1984 Summer Olympics. References External links

* 1957 births Living people French men's basketball players Olympic basket ...

stated that she was a "good compromise between good mood and professionalism". She also treated on the air two other sports than basketball, which include

handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball or Olympic handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of throwing it into the g ...

with among others the world championships, the Europe championships, the trophies of the Ligue nationale de handball, and swimming. She participated more generally at big events like the Olympic Games and the tennis Grand Slams. In 2019, Mary Patrux was approached by the sports direction of France Télévisions to replace Flore Maréchal on presenting ''Tout le sport'', co-hosting ''Stade 2'' and intervening at the events, but the transfer did not happen and she finally stayed on BeIN Sports, still presenting ''NBA Extra'' and big events.

Personal life

Mary Patrux is married to Olivier Canton, rugby journalist on Eurosport. They have two children, a daughter named Louise and a son named Paul.

References

External links

Biography of Mary Patrux on Télé Loisirs
{{DEFAULTSORT:Patrux, Mary 1979 births Living people French people of Basque descent French sports journalists French women journalists French television presenters French women television presenters Institut Catholique de Paris alumni Sorbonne Nouvelle University Paris 3 alumni People from Lesquin