“Enjoy your health and long live France”: the remarkable performance of Rosa Murcia-Gangloff, 4th in the T12 marathon

Rosa Murcia-Gangloff a terminé quatrième du marathon paralympique. CAPTURE D'ECRAN – FRANCE TELEVISIONS

La Narbonnaise Rosa Murcia-Gangloff, éducatrice sportive depuis douze ans à Béziers, a terminé 4e du marathon des Jeux Paralympiques (T12) ce dimanche 8 septembre.

Two years ago, Rosa Murcia-Gangloff and her team set themselves a slightly crazy challenge: to take part in the marathon of the Paris Paralympic Games. This Sunday, the project was more than a success. The Narbonne native, who has been a special needs teacher in Béziers for twelve years, finished 4th! An achievement, at 59 years old, thirty-two years after having participated in the Barcelona Olympic Games in the able-bodied category in the 10,000m.

6th on the line at the end of the effort (3h13), so much so that she stumbled twenty meters from the finish line, Rosa and her two guides – her husband Gilles and her former student Mathieu Leroux – gained two places after the disqualification of two competitors. She finished 25 “14” of the untouchable Moroccan El Idrissi, who broke the world record (2h48'36).

"I went all the way'to the end"

"It was a very difficult course for me. I had a contracture in my right thigh and I stumbled. I finished the race and that is very important to me. I went all the way. I am proud of my children who are here, my parents who are in heaven and who were with me, of Mathieu and my husband… And I want to say: enjoy your health, it is the most precious thing you can have. Long live France, and thank you France. We had extraordinary Games, thank you Tony Estanguet. Now, I have all the time to recover,” confided the doyenne of the French delegation to the microphone of France Télévisions on the finish line.

A victim of glaucoma (a genetic disease affecting the optic nerve) in the mid-90s, Rosa Murcia-Gangloff saw her vision deteriorate over the years, until reaching total blindness in his right eye.

His journey and his disconcerting story can be found by clicking here.