Honored for her career in para table tennis in Tokyo, Paralympic silver medalist Léa Ferney was awarded the Côte-d’Or Department medal on Monday, September 27.
At the end of the day this Monday, September 27, 2021, the meeting room of the Department of Côte-d’Or was in a way privatized, dedicated to the reception of the Dijonese Léa Ferney, accompanied by her mother, her grandfather, members of its staff as well as representatives of the Dijon Table Tennis club.
After having received her among several Paralympic athletes before their big departure for the Tokyo Games, the president of the Departmental Council of Côte-d’Or François Sauvadet wanted to show her “solemn recognition”.
From the Tokyo Paralympic Games, let us recall that the 17-year-old player, suffering from a chromosomal deficiency, came back with an exceptional silver medal in para table tennis, after having foiled many predictions and made a strong impression with her performances.
“An example for all the young people of Côte-d’Or”
“A fantastic course”. François Sauvadet hailed “an Olympic epic which remains an example for all the young people of Côte-d’Or, an example of surpassing oneself, of commitment, of tenacity”, by associating with this success the members of the staff and the club of Léa Ferney, but also her family circle.
“You made the Côte-d’Or vibrate, you are a chance for the Côte-d’Or”. With by his side the first vice-president of the Department Emmanuelle Coint and the vice-president in charge of youth and associative life Pierre Bolze, the president then relied on this example of success to reaffirm the support of the local authority. to clubs and recall that the subsidies were maintained during the health crisis, “whether the sporting events took place or not”.
François Sauvadet also defended “access to sport everywhere, for all, for all disciplines”. The sport which allows “to find its way, beneficial to the social bond and which contributes to health”.
Deserved praise and distinction
Léa Ferney’s journey to the medal at the Games – the first in the history of the French delegation in para table tennis – is all the more remarkable given that it was built on the basis of the Olympic qualifications. . The president of the Departmental Olympic and Sports Committee of Côte-d’Or, Bernard Termelet, noted it, about “a voluntary and deserving player”.
“Ten years of work which are the pride of all of us,” said Eric Guillemier, vice-president of the Dijon Table Tennis club, who represented it with Philippe Haratyk on Monday.
The Department of Côte-d’Or medal was awarded to him after all this legitimate praise. This before the eyes can be noted by his physical trainer Sébastien Verdin, who also worthily represented the Côte-d’Or in Tokyo in wheelchair rugby with the France team, and who will probably be seen again at the Paralympic Games in Paris.
With a silver medal around her neck, the seal of Marie de Bourgogne from the municipality of Dijon and the Vercingétorix medal awarded by the Department of Côte-d’Or, Léa Ferney will aim for gold in 2024. She had not hidden this ambition as soon as she returned to Dijon.
Alix Berthier
Photos: Alix Berthier
Sportsmen and women in the spotlight before their departures for the Olympic and Paralympic Games
Léa Ferney from Dijon TT silver medalist at the Tokyo Paralympic Games
A guard of honor for Paralympic medalist Léa Ferney
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