Portal brothers secure historic double in Paris

From our special correspondent at the Léon Marchand Arena,

The hug that comforts. It will remain one of the images of this 400m freestyle final, which will have given birth to a fraternal tricolor double with the silver and bronze medals for the two brothers Alex and Kylian Portal. While the eldest did not stop in the mixed zone, disgusted to have missed the gold, the only medal he had come to get on Saturday, his little brother joined him to take him in his arms for a long time. Not an easy mission, he who had been smiling all the way to the Helix (we’ll let you look for it) since the end of his race.

“I tried to console him but, in those moments, you don’t really know what to do or say,” the bronze medalist confided after the medal ceremony. “That’s also our strength, being two, we can console each other, support each other, and now I just want to give him lots of good vibes. I’m so proud of him, of what he’s doing, he’s done three races and won three medals, it’s exceptional, compared to Boki who is a 19-time Paralympic champion. I’m so proud to be his brother.” The family is doing well.

“Of course Alex came for the gold, but it’s like in the 100m butterfly, he has someone (Boki, double Olympic champion in Paris and big winner of the day) in his category who has been holding the top spots for several Paralympics and he had another great race today, he didn’t leave his share to the others, analyses Guillaume Domingo, the manager of the Blues. But it’s still another great day for us and what I want us to remember today is their complicity, that’s what makes them strong.”

Alex Portal, the inconsolable

Nearly an hour after the end of this final that will be a landmark for French para swimming, Alex Portal still couldn’t hide his disappointment, his sadness even, moving his head from right to left, his eyes fixed on his Phryge but his thoughts vague. He is proud of his little brother’s third place, he never stopped repeating it, “he is too strong”, but we know that it won’t stop him from turning this race over and over in his head tonight.

“I would have loved to offer us a Marseillaise, we would have experienced it together, but that’s sport, that’s how it is. I didn’t do the race I needed to tonight,” he finally analyses. “I could have done better, I let myself get carried away a bit by the pace of BokiI should have accelerated earlier. But three medals in three races, I’m not going to complain, it’s still a great Games for the moment.” Ah, all the same.

It will take him a while to digest it but, in hindsight, I am sure that this memory of a podium shared with the one with whom he got into all sorts of trouble will slowly turn into something beautiful. Just like their entrance into the Paris La Défense Arena, packed to the rafters and deafening – as always whenever a Frenchman, or several, enter the pool.

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For the occasion, the two friends, who are not used to competing together since one plays in the S12 category, the other with the S13*, had decided to make a splash and enter with a red bob on their heads, in a cool, rasta way. “We wanted something that would bring us together. Initially, we had planned to wear the Phryge hat but Alex forgot it in the village this morning, so we fell back on the bobs and I think everyone liked it,” laughs Kylian.

A bronze medal not necessarily expected

We won’t know if the little one had to convince the big one to do this impromptu happening. What is certain is that we are faced with two boys who are diametrically opposed in terms of temperament. “Kylian is expansive, we know when he is there, we notice him right away, while Alex is more reserved,” Guillaume Benoist, the coach of the French para swimming team, explains to us.

There you go, that's the smile we were talking about.
There you go, that’s the smile we were talking about.– Julien DE ROSA

We had guessed it even before he took a portrait of the guy, seeing Kylian Portal jump at the foot of the stands and make grand gestures after leaving the pool. It must be said that this silver medal was not necessarily expected. But a final 50 meters of madness allowed him to thwart the predictions and drop his Ukrainian opponent, Kyrylo Garashchenko, on the edge of the pool.

“It was crazy, during the whole race I kept saying to myself ‘I hope I’m next to him, I hope I’m next to him’ and in the last 50m, I saw a shadow in the distance, I said to myself that it must be Garashchenko, and then I said to myself ‘this is my moment, in front of the crowd in Paris, I have to do the 50 of my life’, and that’s what I did. I’m so proud.”

Now it’s time for a well-deserved rest for the two brothers, especially for Alex, who has played three finals in three days. “It’s going to be good because playing three days in a row like that, returning to the village at 11:30 p.m. and leaving again at 8 a.m., is not easy,” admits Guillaume Benoist. “They’ll be able to recharge their batteries and come back in top form for the rest of the season.” That’s all we wish them in any case.

*As there are fewer competitors and therefore fewer events in the S12 category, to which Kylian Portal belongs, athletes are allowed to compete with the S13 from time to time.

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