Camille Muffat and the men’s 4x100m freestyle relay in gold, first medals for France!
“I really can’t believe it. I was sure I was the best, but not that I would win at the Olympic Games. I hoped to have an Olympic medal one day, it was a lifelong dream,” declared the radiant Nice native upon leaving the pools.
The student of Fabrice Pellerin, eight years after Laure Manaudou, who was crowned at the same distance in 2004 at the Athens Games, becomes the second French female swimmer to become an Olympic champion.
The athletes from Nice are thus honored after the small disappointment of Sofiane Milous (Olympic Judo Nice) who finished 4th in Judo (under 60 kg) whose performance allowed him to envision the podium but he faced a very great champion, the world’s number one.
Camille Muffat for her victory in the 400m freestyle final, as well as the six members of the men’s 4x100m freestyle relay crowned as Olympic champions – Amaury Leveaux, Fabien Gilot, Clément Lefert, Yannick Agnel, (Alain Bernard and Jérémy Stravius) during a historic day for French swimming.
Present in the stands of the London Aquatics Centre, Sports Minister Valérie Fourneyron was able to congratulate the champion and the Olympic champions: “Eight years after Laure Manaudou’s Olympic crowning in the 400m in Athens, and four years after Alain Bernard’s gold medal in the 100m in Beijing, French swimming confirms, with this double success, that it truly is one of the best in the world.”
The mayor of Nice, Christian Estrosi, wanted to express his pride: “It is an exceptional evening for Nice and for France that Camille Muffat, Yannick Agnel, and Clément Lefert have given us.
Three Niçois in gold, it is an indescribable emotion that rewards the talent and work of these exceptional swimmers and their coach, Fabrice Pellerin.
This result realizes their unwavering investment and legitimizes Nice’s ambition to establish a great training center, with the first stone to be laid as early as next year, as we committed during the last municipal council.
These medals perfectly symbolize Nice’s desire to actively participate in French sport’s ambitions.”
