My best and worst moments with France’s Marie-Amelie Le Fur

This week’s Best & Worst Moments comes from French double world champion Marie-Amelie Le Fur.

The 27-year-old won 400m and long jump T44 gold at the 2015 World Championships in Doha, Qatar, then followed that up earlier this month (14 June) with a dominant defence of her European 400m title to add to the long jump bronze she won behind T42 Para athletes Vanessa Low and Martina Caironi.

Of course it’s not all been plain sailing for Le Fur – here are her Best & Worst Moments:

My worst moment

It was at the 2011 World Championships in Christchurch, New Zealand, in the long jump. I couldn’t find the right mark and the track was too fast so I couldn’t find a good leg to jump. I finished ninth – but I had arrived there with the best performance in the run up to the Championships. So it was very difficult for me to lose - it was really my worst moment.

But I learned that the French team have confidence in my performance. They told me not to worry, and that I could be a good champion if the next day I won the 200m. It was my worst moment but also a big moment, because the team was there for me and gave me the energy I needed to win the 200m.

My best moment

It is difficult! I have the Paralympic title from the 100m in London – that is important because it is a Paralympic title, it was very exciting to be in London, in the stadium. But I liked the long jump in Doha (at the 2015 World Championships) because it was the first time I could succeed in the long jump. In previous major competitions I would arrive with the best performance of the year, but I never won gold because in my head I thought it was too complicated to jump in big competitions. In Doha I had a good feeling, it was a good track, and in my head it was good. I broke the world record in a major competition and it was a very important moment for me. I hope this will have changed my head for Rio too.

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