Former Olympic mogul skiing medalist Sandra Laoura, disabled since a training accident, has returned to sport in the hope of qualifying and winning a medal at the 2028 Summer Paralympic Games in para-cycling, she announced Thursday.
“What if I became the first female Olympic and Paralympic medalist? It’s quite a challenge, very ambitious, but together, we can do it. And then I know the challenges,” she declared during a press briefing in Paris.
Bronze medalist in mogul skiing at the Turin Olympics in 2006, the skier fell heavily in January 2007 during training in Canada. Injured in the spinal cord, she lost the use of her legs and has been using a wheelchair ever since.
“I said to myself: if he can do it, why not me? »
Having become a member of the French National Olympic and Sports Committee (CNOSF), it was by seeing the exploits of Brazilian swimmer Gabriel dos Santos Araujo at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games that the 45-year-old former skier “clicked”.
“In this swimming pool, at the Defense Arena, when Gabrielzinho comes in, this emotion that runs through me is the same that I had when, in 92, I attended the Games (from Albertville),” she said with great emotion.
“For me, sport was a little put aside, but his smile, his dynamism and especially his way of surpassing himself, I said to myself: if he can do it, why not me? »
After discussions with athletes from different sports, she finally opted for handbiking, road para-cycling.
It’s a sport “that resembles me and in which I find a lot of pleasure,” explained the woman who started training last March. “There are similarities with what I experienced, there is adrenaline, trajectories, even just talking about helmets, masks, gloves…”
“This stage of my life and this project are very important,” she continued. “Since I started playing sports again, there are things that have come back: this taste for effort, this sensation and this adrenaline make me feel alive today. »
“It took me a long time, but now I’m ready for this new adventure. I was stopped and slowed down in my career even though I wanted to continue. There, I have the chance to do sport again and to be able to complete it myself. »
