You may not have heard the name Emilie Lepennec before, but following the Anaheim World Championships, you may very well be familiar with her. A shy and quiet girl from a small family (one brother), Emilie is quickly becoming one of France's greatest gymnasts ever. 2003 is her first year as a senior international gymnast so she is still struggling with consistency. Many French gym fans and fans worldwide believe that Emilie is a lock for the World team this August, which would accomplish one of her goals. The other is to represent France in the 2004 Olympics. But when Emilie isn't working on super E skills or perfecting her choreography, she's busy being a normal teenager. She likes to go to the movie theatres or listen to Axel Red and Avril Lavigne.

 Emilie was born on December 31, 1987, in La Garenne Colombe, France, a city near Paris. Her rise in the sport began in a dance class at age five. She was often bored and needed something more exciting to keep her attention so she began taking gymnastics lessons in Nanterre at age seven. Her first competitions were in the FSGT, a small sport federation, in which she was crowned National Champion. Again, just like in dance, Emilie had reached the limits of her club. Her parents decided to enroll her in the Creteil Club, a major gym in France. Then she was discovered by the National Team coaches and added to the National Team. Now coached by Isabella Severino's (who also performed a Def) coach, Lepennec trains under Yves Kieffer and Marjorie Heuls at INSEP. There she trains alongside Anaheim hopefuls Marine Debauve, Coralie Chacon, & Gaëlle Richard.

As unquestionably France's most talented gymnast ever, Lepennec has an array of skills that not only sets her apart in France, but the entire world. She vaults a piked Lucconi and her bar routine contains not one, but TWO, "Super Es": a Def, or full-twisting Gienger, and a double back with a double twist on the second salto. When she submits this skill at the World Championships, it will become the Lepennec! She also throws a hop full, giant full, and overshoot to clear hip full. On beam she has a beautifully choreographed routine complete with dynamic skills: 1-armed back handspring to layout stepout; tour jete 1/2; beat jump to wolf jump full; standing arabian; switch leap to Rulfova; and a triple twist dismount... three Es isn't too bad! She tumbles a piked full-in, 2 1/2 twist to front full, and a triple twist. She garners bonus by performing a triple turn, a double-twisting cat leap to 'Khorkina' (1 1/2 to prone), and a Gogean (tour jete full) as well.

 Emilie's competitive history has proven to be a very successful one, and she is only fifteen years old! In 2001, she placed 9th at her first Junior Nationals and was first the next year. Her coming out party proved to be the 2002 Jr. European Championships in Patras, Greece. There she earned a bronze medal with her teammates and made three event finals, the most of her teammates: bars (8th), beam (6th), and floor (8th). Also in 2002 she competed at the French International and France-Netherlands-Switzerland tri-meet. 2003 has been even more exciting for the young dynamo. She placed fifth in the all-around at the Senior Nationals (2nd on bars), and 7th on floor and 3rd on bars at the French International. Most recently she competed at the 2003 Achtlandentoernooi, or 8 Country Meet, where she placed 4th all around and team & 8th on bars and floor against gymnasts from Romania, Australia, Spain, the Netherlands, Canada, Ukraine, and Great Britain.

2005 UPDATE - Not too long after we wrote this feature on Emilie, she became one of the most well known gymnasts in her sport. She went on to place 5th in the floor final and 11th in the all-around final at the 2003 World Championships. But it was undoubtedly her results at the 2004 Olympics that she will treasure the most; France made the team final, she led the all-around final after two rotations (she ended up 14th), and won the gold medal in the uneven bar finals. Emilie became the first French gymnast to ever win a gold medal, or any medal for that matter, in the Olympics! So far in 2005, Emilie has won gold on bars at the Europeans (where she was 3rd on floor as well) and the French International. She remains a medal favorite for this fall's Worlds!

Photos © Associated Press