The Games, table tennis and the Lebrun brothers were “even crazier than I imagined”
M. Lauferon (à gauche) à Paris avec Mme Chevassus, coprésidente de l’Alliance Nîmes-Montpellier. MIDI LIBRE
Le Gardois Alain Lauferon, coprésident de l’Alliance Nîmes-Montpellier, le club des frères Lebrun, était à Paris pour les Jeux et pour le ping. Il raconte.
"I have a lot of things to do, but my head is elsewhere… I have trouble coming back down!" Caught up in a whirlwind of emotions, Alain Lauferon experienced the madness of the Games and Lebrunmania last week in Paris. This Monday, he had to resume his activity as a physiotherapist. “In the office, instead of the usual appointment messages, we have congratulatory messages!”
An innovative and winning alliance
Because the practitioner is co-president of the Nîmes-Montpellier Alliance, initiated in 2020 and created in 2023, within which the now Olympic medalists Félix (double bronze) and Alexis are licensed. A union between two “rival” cities that may have raised eyebrows, but which takes on its full meaning today. “The Alliance is the crucible of their success,“60~/em>Alain Lauferon rejoices. They are not the ones who entered a training structure, it is the structure that was built around them. Beyond their talent, which is enormous, they were able to flourish there, and reach the top faster than expected. I would like to thank the Gard and Hérault communities for believing in our project."
Temps en suspension… et explosion
As a symbol, the Nîmes native experienced these Games in the stands alongside Claire Chevassus, the other co-president (from Montpellier) of the Alliance, and close to the Lebrun clan (the brothers were born in Montpellier, the family lives in Lansargues). “I couldn't attend the individual event the first week, I was working. I was expecting a great atmosphere, but it was even crazier than I imagined. Seven thousand people chanting the players' names, singing the Marseillaise… And what happened in the room when Félix came back from 7-10 to 12-10 as a team against Japan, it was a unique moment. Time was suspended, before the explosion!"
The explosion of the public. The explosion of the Lebrun brothers in the eyes of the world. And the explosion of table tennis. “We have many more requests than usual at the same time, confirms Mr. Lauferon, also president of the ASPC Nîmes club. The City is thinking about a new project for us, but while it's still waiting for it to come out of the boxes… The danger would be that in the event of a massive influx, people would leave disappointed. We have to welcome them well."
"They are today as they were ten years ago"
The ASPCN has a baby ping section, which will welcome children born in 2020 in September. To start young, like “Féfé” (soon to be 18) and Alexis (soon to be 21). “They both have it in their blood. For them, training doesn't mean working, it means playing. They are today like they were ten years ago. You put them somewhere, they only think about playing ping pong. In Paris, I found them the same as when I see them in Montpellier or Nîmes, no more, no less, with their personality full of sincerity. Their strength is that they don't try to imitate the Chinese. They seek to create and surprise."
Soon in Nîmes, at Pablo-Neruda
We should soon see their creative genius at work in Languedoc. The Alliance is planning four grouped French championship matches (women's and men's, in Pro A) between mid-October and the end of December, including at least two at Pablo-Neruda. For the best… and for the best !
Make way for the Paralympics… and Europe!
Flora Vautier in the games. The Olympic Games are over, long live the Paralympic Games! With a Nîmoise qualified in table tennis, Flora Vautier, 19 years old. “She is as ambitious and as young as the Lebrun brothers. She commands respect through work, under the guidance of her coach Guillaume Jean, and she attracts the spotlight. She is involved in women's singles and doubles”, specifies her president.
The women in Spain. See you on November 15, 16 and 17 in Burgos. The Alliance Féminine Nîmes-Montpellier will make its debut in the European Cup and will face the local team, Muravera (Italy) and Juncal (Portugal) during the weekend. Only the first of the group will qualify for the final stages.
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