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LUDIVINE FURNON
Ludivine Furnon (born October 4, 1980 in Nîmes) is a retired Olympic athlete from France. She was the first French
female gymnast ever to medal at the World Gymnastics Championships.
Although she attended dance classes from the age of eight, Furnon did not study gymnastics until April 1992, when she was eleven years
old. Her rise in the sport was astonishingly rapid. In early 1994, less than two years after beginning gymnastics, she was accepted to
train with the French national team in Marseille; by 1995 she was competing at the elite level. At her first French national championships,
in 1995, she placed sixth in the all-around.
In 1995, Furnon also made her international debut, competing with the sixth-place French team at the World Gymnastics Championships in
Sabae. With her innovative and expressive floor exercise routine, choreographed by coach Adriana Pop, she won a bronze medal in event
finals, the first ever for a French gymnast at Worlds.
Furnon continued to be a major contributor to the French team for the next five years. In 1996, she became the French national
champion and represented France at the 1996 Olympics, finishing nineteenth in the all-around. She also competed at the 1996, 1997 and 1999
World Championships, qualifying for the floor finals on several occasions.
In 2000, Furnon seemed to be on the brink of success again, winning the floor exercise title at the 2000 European Championships over
a tough field that included Elena Produnova, Simona Amânar and reigning world floor exercise champion
Andreea Raducan. However, at the 2000 Olympics a few months later, Furnon was dealing with
injury issues, and was only able to compete on the uneven bars during the team portions of the meet.
Currently, Furnon is performing with Cirque du Soleil.
For more information, visit her
profile page on the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique website.
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