Cécile Hernandez
Personal information
NationalityFrench
Born (1974-06-20) 20 June 1974
Perpignan, France
Medal record
Women's para snowboarding
Representing  France
Winter Paralympic Games
Gold medal – first place2022 BeijingSnowboard cross SB-LL2
Silver medal – second place2014 SochiSnowboard cross
Silver medal – second place2018 PyeongchangBanked slalom SB-LL1
Bronze medal – third place2018 PyeongchangSnowboard cross SB-LL1
World Championships
Gold medal – first place2015 La MolinaBanked slalom SB-LL1
Silver medal – second place2015 La MolinaSnowboard cross SB-LL1
Silver medal – second place2017 Big WhiteBanked slalom SB-LL1
Silver medal – second place2017 Big WhiteSnowboard cross SB-LL1

Cécile Hernandez is a French para-snowboarder and four-time Paralympic medallist, with a gold medal from Beijing 2022, a silver medal from Sochi 2014 and both a silver and a bronze from PyeongChang 2018. She competes for the teams Les Angles and France Douanes,[1][2] as well as the French national Paralympic team; outside sport, she is a customs officer journalist and writer.[1][2]

Life and career

Hernandez began her sporting career as a BMX racer in international competition[1][3] before discovering snowboarding. On 21 October 2002 she experienced an attack of multiple sclerosis that paralysed her legs for two months.[3][4][5] As a result, she stopped sport and took refuge in writing, publishing two books for Éditions du Rocher and working for Europe 1 (from 2011) and Le Figaro from 2012, covering the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London.

In May 2012, Hernandez arranged an endurance race for both disabled and able-bodied athletes, travelling from Lyon to Bordeaux by bicycle and kayak.[3] Then, in 2013, when she happened to try snowboarding again in the French Alps, she was spotted by a member of the French para-snowboarding team.[3] She was selected for the Paralympic snowboarding team for the Sochi Games in February 2014, with just over a month to prepare, but was encouraged by her performance at the World Para Snowboard World Cup the previous month.[3] She won a silver Paralympic medal at Sochi, with a snowboard cross time of 2:07.31,[1] and was named a knight of the National Order of Merit by then-president François Hollande in June 2014.[1]

In the 2014–15 season, Hernandez won the grand slam with all stages of the World Para Snowboard World Cup in both snowboard cross and banked slalom; leading her first full season gained her a Crystal Globe and she ended the season at La Molina crowned world champion in banked slalom and with a silver medal in snowboard cross.[6] In 2015–16, still competing for the Les Angles team, she won 10 races in the European and World Cups and 2 further Crystal Globes — a gros globe for leading the World Para Snowboard rankings and a petit globe for first place in the banked slalom — as well as the silver medal for snowboard cross.[7]

On 4 February 2017 at Big White, she won another silver medal in snowboard cross,[8] winning the banked slalom silver 3 days later.[9] At the end of the 2016–17 season the following month, with 7 spots on the podium, including 5 victories, she won a third gros globe and both petits globes for snowboard cross and banked slalom.[10]

She joined the France Douanes team on 20 January 2017 with the aim of travelling to PyeongChang as a part of the French Paralympic team for the 2018 Winter games,[11][2] where she won bronze in the snowboard cross[12] and silver in the banked slalom.[13]

She won the silver medal in the women's dual banked slalom SB-LL1 event at the 2021 World Para Snow Sports Championships held in Lillehammer, Norway.[14][15] She also won the gold medal in the women's snowboard cross SB-LL1 event.[16][17]

Hernandez is classified as a SB-LL1 snowboarder. Hernandez learned days before her competition at the 2022 Winter Paralympics that she was allowed to compete.[18] This was previously not permitted as there are no SB-LL1 events for female snowboarders in the snowboarding programme.[19][20] She won the gold medal in the women's snowboard cross SB-LL2 event.[21][22] She also competed in the women's banked slalom SB-LL2 event.[22]

Personal life

Hernandez is married, to Frédéric, with a daughter, Victoire-Eléonore.[23]

Works

  • La guerre des nerfs : 33 ans, sclérose en plaques [War of Nerves], Monaco: Rocher, 2008. ISBN 9782268064444, OCLC 213376314
  • Qu'est-ce qu'elle fait maman ? [What's she doing mummy?], Monaco: Rocher, 2009. ISBN 9782268068312, OCLC 465087793

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Athlete bio: HERNANDEZ-CERVELLON Cecile". International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  2. 1 2 3 "Top départ pour les Jeux Paralympiques avec l'Équipe France Douane" [Starting signal for the Paralympic Games with the French Customs team]. France Douanes. 7 March 2018. Archived from the original on 8 March 2018. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 "Cécile Hernandez-Cervellon : "La maladie m'a forgé un mental de guerrière"" [Cécile Hernandez-Cervellon: 'The illness gave me a warrior mentality']. L'Équipe (in French). 20 December 2016. Retrieved 16 March 2018.
  4. ↑ "Athlete Profile: Cecile HERNANDEZ". PyeongChang Organizing Committee for the 2018 Olympic & Paralympic Winter Games. Archived from the original on 14 March 2018. Retrieved 13 March 2018.
  5. ↑ "3 Athletes With Multiple Sclerosis to Watch for at the Paralympics". The Mighty. Retrieved 13 March 2018.
  6. ↑ "Snowboard: deux médailles, dont un titre pour Cécile" [Snowboard: 2 medals, including a title for Cécile]. Handisport (in French). 10 March 2015. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  7. ↑ "Bilan 2016 : 7 globes et 28 victoires Coupe de Monde pour Les Bleus" [2016 total: 7 globes and 28 World Cup victories for Les Bleus]. Ski Handisport (in French). 4 April 2016. Archived from the original on 16 March 2018. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  8. ↑ "Cécile Hernandez et Maxime Montaggioni vice-champions du monde en snowboard cross" [Cécile Hernandez and Maxime Montaggioni World Vice-Champions in snowboard cross]. Cœur Handisport (in French). 5 February 2017. Archived from the original on 11 March 2018. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  9. ↑ "Maxime Montaggioni champion du monde en banked slalom Cécile Hernandez en argent" [Maxime Montaggioni World Champion in banked slalom, Cécile Hernandez wins silver]. Cœur Handisport (in French). 8 February 2017. Archived from the original on 11 March 2018. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  10. ↑ "CdM : triple globe de cristal pour Cécile Hernandez en snowboard" [World Cup: Crystal Globe triple for Cécile Hernandez in snowboard]. Cœur Handisport (in French). 22 March 2017. Archived from the original on 16 March 2018. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  11. ↑ "Cécile Hernandez (parasnowboard)". France Douanes. 20 January 2017. Archived from the original on 8 March 2018. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  12. ↑ "Medals and Ranking — Women's Snowboard Cross SB-LL1". PyeongChang Organizing Committee for the 2018 Olympic & Paralympic Winter Games. 12 March 2018. Archived from the original on 17 March 2018. Retrieved 16 March 2018.
  13. ↑ "Medals and Ranking — Women's Banked Slalom SB-LL1". PyeongChang Organizing Committee for the 2018 Olympic & Paralympic Winter Games. 16 March 2018. Archived from the original on 17 March 2018. Retrieved 16 March 2018.
  14. ↑ "Lisa Bunschoten trails, falls, recovers and wins third straight world title". Paralympic.org. 14 January 2022. Retrieved 15 January 2022.
  15. ↑ Houston, Michael (14 January 2022). "United States win three snowboard golds at World Para Snow Sports Championships". InsideTheGames.biz. Retrieved 15 January 2022.
  16. ↑ "Canada's Tyler Turner beats 'best of the best' for first World Championships gold". 21 January 2022. Retrieved 21 January 2022.
  17. ↑ Burke, Patrick (21 January 2022). "Pedersen clinches third gold of World Para Snow Sports Championships in Lillehammer". InsideTheGames.biz. Retrieved 21 January 2022.
  18. ↑ "Legal fight won, Hernandez and Huckaby enjoy success on the snow". Reuters. 7 March 2022. Retrieved 7 March 2022.
  19. ↑ "Winter Paralympics: Para-snowboarders 'too disabled' for Games win battle to compete". BBC Sport. 20 January 2022. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
  20. ↑ Burke, Patrick (6 March 2022). "Hernandez and Huckaby lead women's SB-LL2 snowboard cross qualifying at Beijing 2022". InsideTheGames.biz. Retrieved 6 March 2022.
  21. ↑ Burke, Patrick (7 March 2022). "Hernandez takes snowboard cross gold at Beijing 2022 Winter Paralympics". InsideTheGames.biz. Retrieved 7 March 2022.
  22. 1 2 "Snowboarding Results Book" (PDF). 2022 Winter Paralympics. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 March 2022. Retrieved 12 March 2022.
  23. ↑ "Maman et handicap : Cécile, mère extra ordinaire" [A mother and disabled: Cécile, an extra ordinary mother]. Côté Famille. 5 January 2010. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
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