Mélanie de Jesus dos Santos

Mélanie Johanna de Jesus dos Santos (born 5 March 2000) is a French artistic gymnast and a three-time French national all-around champion (2017-2019). Internationally, she is the 2019 European all-around champion and a two time European champion on floor exercise (2018, 2019).

Mélanie de Jesus dos Santos
Mélanie de Jesus dos Santos at the 2018 European Championships in Glasgow
Personal information
Full nameMélanie Johanna de Jesus dos Santos
Country represented France
Born (2000-03-05) 5 March 2000
HometownSchœlcher, Martinique, France
ResidenceSaint-Etienne, France
DisciplineWomen's artistic gymnastics
LevelSenior International Elite
Years on national team2013-present[1]
ClubKréyol Gym Fort-de-France[2]
GymPôle de Saint-Etienne
Head coach(es)Eric Hagard, Monique Hagard[3]
AwardsLongines Prize for Elegance (2019)

Personal life

She was born in Schœlcher, Martinique. Her father is Portuguese and her mother is Martinican. She has two half-sisters who live in Portugal with their father.[4]

Junior career

She began gymnastics at a club in La Trinité. Her coach, Elsa Louis, recognized her potential and allowed her to participate in training camps with the French Gymnastics Federation.[5] She became a member of the French national team in 2013, first as a junior.

At the French national championships in 2015, she placed second in the all-around behind Lorette Charpy.

In the summer of 2015, during the qualifications for the European Olympic Youth Festival, she badly injured her knee while performing a double twisting Yurchenko.[6] Due to the injury, she was unable to compete for several months.

Senior career

2016

In 2016 she moved to Saint-Etienne in France to train with Eric and Monique Hagard. She returned to competition in June 2016 at the French National Championships in Mulhouse, placing fourth in the all-around, balance beam, and floor exercise.[7]

2017

In March, she competed in the American Cup, where she received the bronze medal and had the highest score on beam. She became the second French gymnast to medal at the American Cup after Elvire Teza won gold in 1997.[8]

At the 2017 European Championships in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, she qualified for two finals: in the all-around and uneven bars. She finished third in the all-around behind Ellie Downie of Great Britain and Zsófia Kovács of Hungary. The last French gymnast to win an all-around medal at the European Championships was Marine Debauve in 2005.[9]

She became the French all-around champion in 2017, beating reigning champion Marine Boyer by 1.4 points for a total of 55.450. She also won a silver medal on beam.[10] At the 2017 World Championships in Montreal, she finished fifth in the all-around.

2018

de Jesus dos Santos at the 2018 Sainté Gym Show alongside French teammates

In May, she received three gold medals at the French National Championships, winning the all-around, bars, and floor.[11]

de Jesus dos Santos at the 2018 European Championships

In August 2018 she participated in the European Championships in Glasgow. The French team earned a silver medal in the team final, finishing behind the Russians and ahead of the Dutch.[12] Mélanie qualified for two event finals, finishing in sixth place on beam, and winning gold on floor. She became the third French gymnast to win this title at the European Championships after Ludivine Furnon in 2000 and Isabelle Séverino in 2005.[13] At the 2018 World Challenge Cup in Paris, she won the gold medal on floor exercise.[14]

2019

In March de Jesus dos Santos was later selected to compete at the 2019 European Championships alongside Marine Boyer, Lorette Charpy, and Coline Devillard.[15] She later competed at the EnBW DTB-Pokal Team Challenge in Stuttgart where France placed fourth in the team final.[16] At the European Championships de Jesus dos Santos won the all-around ahead of 2017 European Champion Ellie Downie.[17] During event finals de Jesus dos Santos successfully defended her floor exercise title, won silver on balance beam behind Alice Kinsella of Great Britain, and finished seventh on uneven bars. This made her the most decorated female gymnast of the championships, tied with Angelina Melnikova of Russia.[18]

On September 3 de Jesus dos Santos was named to the team to compete at the 2019 World Championships in Stuttgart, Germany alongside Lorette Charpy, Marine Boyer, Coline Devillard, and Aline Friess.[19] Later that month she competed at the Paris Challenge Cup where she won gold on uneven bars and placed seventh on balance beam.[20]

During the qualification round at the world championships, she led the French team to qualify to the team final in fourth place behind the United States, China, and Russia. Individually, she qualified to the all-around final in third place behind Simone Biles and Sunisa Lee of the United States, the balance beam final in sixth place, and the floor exercise final in fifth place. In the team final, de Jesus dos Santos contributed an all-around score of 55.498 to help France finish in fifth place. Coming into the all-around final, de Jesus dos Santos was labeled a strong medal contender. However, she performed very poorly, falling twice off the uneven bars, and finished all the way down in twentieth place. Though she performed better in event finals, she still finished off the podium, placing fifth on beam and fifth again on floor. It was later announced that de Jesus dos Santos was awarded the Longines Prize for Elegance alongside American Sam Mikulak.[21]

2020

In February it was announced that de Jesus dos Santos would represent France at the Tokyo World Cup taking place on April 4.[22] The Tokyo World Cup was later canceled due to the coronavirus outbreak in Japan.[23]

Competitive History

Year Event Team AA VT UB BB FX
2015Euro Youth Olympic Festival6
2016French National Championships444
FRA-ROU Friendly
Joaquim Blume Memorial
Elite Gym Massilia4
2017American Cup (World Cup)
City of Jesolo Trophy4984
European Championships8
French National Championships5
Internationaux de France47
World Championships5R2R1
Elite Gym Massilia4
Toyota International Competition
2018Doha World Cup
Tokyo World Cup
French National Championships6
FRA-SWI-GER Friendly
European Championships4
Paris Challenge Cup8
World Championships566
Arthur Gander Memorial10
2019EnBW DTB-Pokal Team Cup4
European Championships7
French National Championships6
Paris Challenge Cup7
World Championships52055

References

  1. "MÉLANIE DE JESUS DOS SANTOS". Archived from the original on 2018-11-01. Retrieved 2019-10-10.
  2. "MÉLANIE DE JESUS DOS SANTOS". Archived from the original on 2018-11-01. Retrieved 2019-10-10.
  3. "MÉLANIE DE JESUS DOS SANTOS". Archived from the original on 2018-11-01. Retrieved 2019-10-10.
  4. Crumlish, John (July–October 2017). "French Force". International Gymnast. 59: 17–20.
  5. "Reportage diffusé dans le journal télévisé de 19h sur Martinique 1re en décembre 2015".
  6. "Melanie De Jesus Dos Santos blessée gravement au genou". August 3, 2015.
  7. "Le retour réussi de Mélanie De Jesus Dos Santos". November 21, 2016.
  8. "Mélanie de Jesus Dos Santos en bronze à Newark (USA)". March 4, 2017.
  9. "Euro - Melanie de Jesus dos Santos en bronze au concours général, 1er podium français depuis 2005". April 21, 2017.
  10. "Mélanie de Jesus Dos Santos et Zachari Hrimèche sacrés champions de France 2017". May 27, 2017.
  11. "Mélanie De Jesus Dos Santos et Julien Gobaux sacrés aux Championnats de France". May 20, 2018.
  12. "Championnats d'Europe : l'équipe de France féminine prend l'argent". lequipe.fr. August 4, 2018.
  13. "Championnats d'Europe : Mélanie De Jesus Dos Santos en or au sol". lequipe.fr. August 5, 2018.
  14. "2018 Paris Challenge Cup Results". thegymter.net. September 30, 2018.
  15. "GAM/GAF - Championnats D'europe De Gymnastique Artistique 2019 : La Composition De L'équipe". French Gymnastics Federation. March 12, 2019.
  16. "2019 DTB Team Challenge Results". The Gymternet. March 18, 2019.
  17. "France's Melanie De Jesus dos Santos wins European all-around crown". European Union of Gymnastics. April 12, 2019.
  18. "UEG Gymnastics". www.ueg.org. Archived from the original on 2019-04-14. Retrieved 2019-04-14.
  19. "GAM/GAF - Championnats Du Monde 2019 : La Composition De L'équipe De France Dévoilée". Fédération Française Gym (in French). September 3, 2019.
  20. "2019 Paris Challenge Cup Results". The Gymternet. September 17, 2019.
  21. "Mikulak, de Jesus dos Santos win 2019 Longines Prize for Elegance". International Gymnastics Federation. October 11, 2019.
  22. "Simone Biles heads star-studded field for Tokyo World Cup". International Gymnastics Federation. February 14, 2020.
  23. @FIG_media (March 17, 2020). "Japan Gymnastics Association has decided to cancel the #Tokyo All-Around World Cup that was scheduled on 4-5 April 2020" (Tweet) via Twitter.
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