France mourns trio of sport stars
Print Edition
FRANCE was plunged into mourning yesterday after the sudden deaths of three sports stars, including an Olympic champion swimmer and one of the world’s best sailors, in a helicopter crash while filming a reality TV show in Argentina.
Champion sailor Florence Arthaud, Olympic gold medalist swimmer Camille Muffat and Olympic boxer Alexis Vastine were among 10 people killed when two helicopters filming the survival series “Dropped” smashed into each other in the rugged mountains of La Rioja province, local officials said.
“The whole of France is in mourning this morning,” said Prime Minister Manuel Valls.
Rioja provincial spokesman Horacio Alarcon said there were no survivors in the crash, which happened in good weather conditions on Monday.
Local media showed the wreckage of the two helicopters in flames on the dry scrubland in the northwestern Argentinian province. It was the worst accident in the history of reality television.
Alongside the three sports stars, five French TV crew members and two Argentine pilots died in the crash, a police source said.
Arthaud, 57, was considered one of the best sailors in the world, a woman who conquered what had been a strictly male-dominated sport. Her titles included the 1990 Route du Rhum, the most prestigious race to cross the Atlantic solo.
Muffat, 25, was one of the top swimmers in French history, winning three medals at the London Olympics in 2012, including gold in the 400 freestyle.
She shocked the sporting world in June 2014 by announcing her sudden retirement at the age of 24.
Vastine, 28, won a bronze medal at the Beijing games in 2008 in the light welterweight category.
President Francois Hollande led the tributes, saying the “brutal death of our compatriots is an immense sadness”.
Muffat’s former trainer Fabrice Pellerin told radio station RTL: “What’s hard is to reconcile the image I have of Camille, who was unsinkable, with what happened.”
“Dropped” involved eight sports stars being dropped into inhospitable environments for an adventure- and survival-themed show.
Fellow contestant, former France and Arsenal football star Sylvain Wiltord, said on Twitter: “I am sad for my friends. I am horrified. I’m speechless. I don’t want to say anything.”
The other stars taking part in the show — none hurt in the accident — were swimmer Alain Bernard, cyclist Jeannie Longo, snowboarder Anne-Flore Marxer and figure skater Philippe Candeloro.
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