Lisa Barbelin (archery)
Lisa Barbelin never ceases to amaze. European outdoor champion in Antalya (Turkey), ninth in the Tokyo Olympic Games for her first participation and at the top of the world rankings in 2021, the Mosellane, from Ley, in Saulnois, has remained in the same dynamic this year. The former STS Dieuze graduate first improved the French indoor record (593 points) then won the Sud de France Nîmes Archery, one of the most important tournaments on the Old Continent. Now essential in the French team, the 21-year-old archer, licensed in Riom (Puy-de-Dôme) continued, on her way, to the European indoor championships in Lasko (Slovenia), during this month of February: the tricolor international perfectly mastered her subject to afford the title. So here she is, double European champion in the space of eight months.
Sarah Bouktit (handball)
Great hope of the Metz Handball training center, Sarah Bouktit is living her first season as a professional player. And what a season… Immersed in the deep end following the unexpected departure of Olga Perederiy last summer, the young pivot is growing at full speed. She was unquestionably the best player in the Metz collective in February, impressive with her composure and efficiency in the Champions League in particular (4/4 in Kristiansand, 4/5 in Moscow). At 19, the native of Mont-Saint-Martin has been rewarded in recent days with a first selection for Les Bleues following Pauletta Foppa’s package. Still a member of the French junior team, with which she will compete in the world championship this summer, she is pointing the tip of her nose among the Olympic champions. And it is well deserved. Sarah Bouktit will aim to play her first major international competition with the France A team, at the end of the year, at Euro-2022.
Laure Ustaritz (athletics)
The years pass and nothing changes, or almost, for Laure Ustaritz. On a track, the Sarrebourgeoise is still just as fast and she proved it again, at the end of February, at the French disabled sports championships near Nantes. Titled French champion in the 400m, she completed the distance in 72”72. Her 200m was almost in the same vein: thanks to a time of 31”55, the 25-year-old Mosellane offered herself a new medal, silver this time, to conclude the most important national meeting of the winter.
With the 2024 Paralympic Games in her sights, Laure Ustaritz will attack the preparation for a very long expected summer season full of confidence. Especially since for the past few months, she has known that another big event has been added to her already dense calendar: France and Paris have indeed obtained the Para-athletics Worlds, which will take place from July 8 to 17, 2023.
