Youna Dufournet (born October 19, 1993) is a retired

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

gymnast Gymnastics is a type of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, dedication and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, sh ...

, the 2009 World Vault bronze medalist, 2009 all-around champion of the

Mediterranean Games The Mediterranean Games is a multi-sport event organised by the International Committee of Mediterranean Games (CIJM). It is held every four years among athletes from countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea in Africa, Asia and Europe. The fir ...

, and a 2012 Olympian. She was born, in

Saumur Saumur () is a commune in the Maine-et-Loire department in western France. The town is located between the Loire and Thouet rivers, and is surrounded by the vineyards of Saumur itself, Chinon, Bourgueil, Coteaux du Layon, etc.. Saumur statio ...

. In addition to her vaulting medal, Dufournet finished fifth in the all-around competition at the World Championships, the highest placement ever for a female French gymnast. She is France's second female medalist on vault after Alexandra Lemoine in 1950. Dufournet is the sixth female gymnast from France to obtain an individual medal in World or Olympic competition, following Lemoine in 1950, 1995 World floor bronze medalist

Ludivine Furnon Ludivine Furnon (born October 4, 1980 in Nîmes) is a retired Olympic athlete from France. 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 th ...

, 1996 World bars bronze medalist

Isabelle Severino Isabelle Severino (born 9 April 1980) is a French gymnast and actress from Montmorency, Val-d'Oise, Montmorency, Paris, France. Severino was a member of the France at the 1996 Summer Olympics, 1996 and France at the 2004 Summer Olympics, 2004 Fr ...

, 2004 Olympic bars champion

Émilie Le Pennec Émilie Le Pennec (born 31 December 1987) is a French retired artistic gymnast. Le Pennec was the 2004 Olympic Champion on the uneven bars and was the first female French gymnast to win an Olympic medal in women's artistic gymnastics. Career ...

and 2007 World Floor bronze medalist

Cassy Vericel Cassy Vericel (born 10 January 1991 in Lyon) is a French former artistic gymnast. She won the bronze medal on floor exercise at the 2007 World Championships. Vericel was selected to participate at the 2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Ol ...

; at the

1950 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships The 12th Artistic Gymnastics World Championships were held in Basel, the second largest city of Switzerland, on July 14-16, 1950. 20,000 spectators watched the championships, held for the first time in Switzerland, and the Swiss team was very su ...

the French team also got a silver medal. After severely injuring her knee at the 2010 French National Championships, tension began to develop between Dufournet and her coaches. Dufournet felt she was being pushed too hard during her recovery period, and decided to change gyms in the run-up to the Olympic games. In 2011, she qualified in second place for the uneven bars final, where ultimately she ended up in eight. Dufournet arrived at the 2012 Olympic Games as a favorite to make the uneven bars final, but during her qualifying routine a grip slipped and she fell from the apparatus. Despite that the slip was due to no fault of her gymnastics, the fall was deducted and she placed 17th on bars, well below the 8th place needed to advance. Dufournet vowed to continue on in hopes of making the 2016 Rio Olympics. At the 2016 French Championships in June, Dufournet competed on all events except floor, but fell off 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 prelims and again during the

balance beam The balance beam is a rectangular artistic gymnastics apparatus and an event performed using the apparatus. Both the apparatus and the event are sometimes simply referred to as "beam". The English abbreviation for the event in gymnastics scoring i ...

event final, placing 7th. She ranked 19th in the all-around final. Hampered by injury and knowing she was unlikely to be selected for the French Olympic team, she announced her retirement at age 22 on her Facebook on June 19, 2016, saying she had "given 200% of erbody and soul to gymnastics throughout the years" and "had no regrets".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dufournet, Youna 1993 births French female artistic gymnasts People from Saumur Living people Medalists at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships Gymnasts at the 2012 Summer Olympics Olympic gymnasts for France Mediterranean Games gold medalists for France Mediterranean Games silver medalists for France Competitors at the 2009 Mediterranean Games Sportspeople from Maine-et-Loire Mediterranean Games medalists in gymnastics 21st-century French women