The Acropolis complex in Nice hosted the third edition of the Nice Sports Victories on Thursday, February 10, 2011. Under the aegis of the Deputy Mayor of Nice, Christian Estrosi, the ceremony celebrated handball player Xavier Barachet and notably awarded swimmers Yannick Agnel and Camille Muffat, as well as snowboarder Patrice Baraterro.
In a three-quarters filled Apollo Hall of the Acropolis complex, the city of Nice organized its third Nice Sports Victories evening on Thursday. In the presence of Christian Estrosi, the Deputy Mayor of Nice, Eric Ciotti, the Deputy and President of the Alpes-Maritimes General Council, and Gilles Veissière, the Deputy Mayor for Sports, the people of Nice rewarded their champions.
The first to be honored was Xavier Barachet. The recent double world champion in Handball (2009 and 2011) was also the patron of the event. A native of Nice, he began his career at Cavigal Nice Handball, a club where his father, Jean Pierre Barachet, is the president. Cheered upon his arrival at the ceremony, the player currently competing for Chambéry stated that he always carries a part of the city where he was born with him.
More than 300 athletes honored
Xavier Barachet is one among more than 300 athletes who were rewarded during the evening. On the same stage, wrestlers, athletes, skiers, judokas, table tennis players, and fencers took turns. The award criteria were stricter than in previous editions: only athletes who secured a podium finish in national or international competitions were to be honored. Despite this, there was a crowd on stage. It should be noted that Nice, on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the county’s annexation to France, wanted to highlight the former glory of Nice sports. Among them were legendary tennis player Suzanne Lenglen, footballers Vic Nuremberg and Pancho Gonzales who marked the great days of OGC Nice during the 1950s, and Yannick Noah, who began his career, to recall, at the Imperial Park of Nice.
Agnel, Muffat, and Baraterro celebrated
This ceremony was also, and above all, an opportunity to reward those considered as “the champions of Nice champions” for the year 2010. The people of Nice were invited to vote online to elect their champions. In the male athlete category, unsurprisingly, swimmer Yannick Agnel took the prize. At only 18 years of age, he achieved exceptional results in 2010: world champion in the 4x100m short-course relay, European champion in the 400m freestyle, European vice-champion in the 4x100m freestyle, and bronze medalist in the 4x200m freestyle at the European Championships. Adding his 5 European Junior Championship titles, it seems logical for him to take the top spot on the podium in the hearts of Nice residents.
Among the women, the trophy was awarded to Yannick Agnel’s club partner at Olympique Nice Natation, Camille Muffat. She too was busy in 2010 with a world champion title in the 200m freestyle, a bronze medal in the 4x200m relay at the World Championships in Dubai. She also won a bronze medal at the European Championships in the 4x200m freestyle.
A clean sweep for ANICES association
For the first time, a trophy was awarded in the parasport category. And it was the snowboarder Patrice Baraterro who was honored. A left leg amputee, the 2009 European champion in para-snowboarding defies the laws of the slope on his board, whether in competition or on powder snow. He participated (on February 2nd, 3rd, and 4th) in the first round of the World Cup discipline in Orcières (05). It should be noted that the ANICES association made a hat trick on the podium in the parasport category with cyclist Benjamin Landier and Torball player, and the association’s president, Sébastien Filippini.
