Émilie Le Pennec
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Émilie Le Pennec (born 31 December 1987) is a French retired
artistic gymnast Artistic gymnastics is a discipline of gymnastics in which athletes perform short routines on different types of apparatus. The sport is governed by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG), which assigns the '' Code of Points'' used ...
. Le Pennec was the 2004 Olympic Champion 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 ...
and was the first, and to date the only, female French
gymnast Gymnastics is a group of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, artistry and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, sh ...
to win an Olympic medal in women's
artistic gymnastics Artistic gymnastics is a discipline of gymnastics in which athletes perform short routines on different types of apparatus. The sport is governed by the Federation Internationale de Gymnastique, Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG), ...
.


Career

Le Pennec was born in
La Garenne-Colombes La Garenne-Colombes () is a Communes of France, commune in the northwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from Notre Dame de Paris, France's kilometre zero. Name The commune used to be part of the neighbouring city of Colombes. At t ...
, Hauts-de-Seine. Coached by Yves Kieffer at Pôle France INSEP in Paris, she was the French junior national champion in 2002. At her first senior nationals in 2003, she came fifth, but won a silver medal in her specialty, 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 ...
. She represented France at the 2002 Junior European Championships, where she won a bronze medal in the team event. At the 2003
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 ...
, Le Pennec was a member of the 10th-place French team. She also qualified for the all-around and the
floor exercise In gymnastics, the floor is a specially prepared exercise surface, considered an apparatus. The floor exercise (English abbreviation FX) is the event performed on the floor, in both women's and men's artistic gymnastics (WAG and MAG). The same flo ...
finals, where she finished 11th and seventh, respectively. At the
2004 Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...
in Athens, Le Pennec placed sixth with the French team and 14th in the all-around final. However, she shone in 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 ...
event final, where her challenging routine helped her win a gold medal over a tough field with numerous Olympic and world champions, including
Svetlana Khorkina Svetlana Vasilyevna Khorkina (; born 19 January 1979) is a retired Russian artistic gymnast. She competed in three Summer Olympics: 1996 Summer Olympics, 2000 Summer Olympics, and 2004 Summer Olympics. During her career, Khorkina won seven Oly ...
(who took an infamous fall from the apparatus, which she traditionally dominated) and 2002 World Champion Courtney Kupets. Her medal marked the first ever (and to date the only) for a French female gymnast. She became the third (and to date the last) French Olympic Champion in
gymnastics Gymnastics is a group of sport that includes physical exercises requiring Balance (ability), balance, Strength training, strength, Flexibility (anatomy), flexibility, agility, Motor coordination, coordination, artistry and endurance. The movem ...
, after
Gustave Sandras Silvaine Gustave Sandras (24 February 1872 – 21 June 1951) was a French gymnast who competed in the early 20th century. He participated in the 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris, France, and won the equivalent (see 1900 Summer Olympics) of a gold me ...
in
1900 As of March 1 ( O.S. February 17), when the Julian calendar acknowledged a leap day and the Gregorian calendar did not, the Julian calendar fell one day further behind, bringing the difference to 13 days until February 28 ( O.S. February 15 ...
and
Albert Séguin Albert Séguin (8 March 1891 – 29 May 1948) was a French gymnast and Olympic champion. He competed at the 1924 Summer Olympics The 1924 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the VIII Olympiad () and officially branded as Paris 19 ...
in
1924 Events January * January 12 – Gopinath Saha shoots Ernest Day, whom he has mistaken for Sir Charles Tegart, the police commissioner of Calcutta, and is arrested soon after. * January 20–January 30, 30 – Kuomintang in Ch ...
. Le Pennec continued to train and compete after the Olympics. In 2005, she earned two medals at the European Championships: gold on uneven bars and bronze on
floor A floor is the bottom surface of a room or vehicle. Floors vary from wikt:hovel, simple dirt in a cave to many layered surfaces made with modern technology. Floors may be stone, wood, bamboo, metal or any other material that can support the ex ...
. She also qualified to the all-around finals in first place, but lost any chance for a medal when she fell during her
balance beam The balance beam is a rectangular artistic gymnastics apparatus and an event performed using the apparatus. The apparatus and the event are sometimes simply called "beam". The English abbreviation for the event in gymnastics scoring is BB. The bal ...
routine. Le Pennec also competed in the 2005 World Championships in Melbourne, but mistakes prevented her from medalling. One of Le Pennec's competitive uneven bars routine was considered to be one of the most technically difficult in the world. In it, she completed a Def (a Gienger release move with a full twist), an element classified at the top difficulty level, Super-E, in the 2005 ''Code of Points.'' Le Pennec also performed a double-twisting double back tuck salto dismount. Le Pennec missed the 2006 European Championships to concentrate on schoolwork. Later, recuperating from an Achilles' tendon injury and acting on the advice of her doctors, she sat out of the 2006 World Championships. On 27 September 2007, she announced via a press release that she had put an end to her career, mainly after failing to retrieve her level after her multiple injuries in 2006–2007, the latest being a heel injury contracted during the Vittel international match in August 2007. Olympic Bars Routine: Jump to the low bar immediately to the high bar; hop with full turn; Def (Gienger with 1.5 turn); full pirouette into overshoot to handstand down to the low bar into toe shoot to high bar; double-twisting double back tuck somersault. (S.V: 10.0)


Later life

During the
2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...
, she worked as a consultant for the French TV
Canal+ Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface flo ...
. After she retired from gymnastics, Le Pennec studied to become a
physical therapist Physical therapy (PT), also known as physiotherapy, is a healthcare profession, as well as the care provided by physical therapists who promote, maintain, or restore health through patient education, physical intervention, disease prevention ...
. She practices in Paris. Le Pennec participated in the Olympic torch relay at the
2024 Summer Olympics opening ceremony The Olympic Games ceremony#Opening, opening ceremony of the 2024 Summer Olympics took place on 26 July 2024 across Paris, beginning at 19:30 Central European Summer Time, CEST (17:30 Coordinated Universal Time, UTC). As mandated by the Olympic ...
.


See also

* List of Olympic female gymnasts for France


References

*


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Le Pennec, Emilie 1987 births Living people Sportspeople from La Garenne-Colombes French female artistic gymnasts Olympic gymnasts for France Olympic gold medalists for France Olympic medalists in gymnastics Gymnasts at the 2004 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics European champions for France Mediterranean Games silver medalists for France Mediterranean Games bronze medalists for France Competitors at the 2005 Mediterranean Games Mediterranean Games medalists in gymnastics European champions in gymnastics 21st-century French sportswomen