What does it mean to win gold at the Paralympics? Ask snowboard great Hernandez and her daughter

Audio By Carbonatix

CORTINA D'AMPEZZO, Italy (AP) — As the French national anthem played, the 51-year-old Para snowboard great Cécile Hernandez cried at the top of the podium. A few meters away from Hernandez, her 18-year-old daughter wept profusely.

It was the ending that Hernandez, who won her second Paralympic gold medal on Sunday, had dreamed about at the Milan Cortina Paralympics.

“It’s incredible and I still can’t realize what happened,” Hernandez said. “I’m very, very, very proud. My daughter is here, and my dream was to see some tears, but tears of joy in my daughter’s eyes and on her face. I did it, and this medal is for her.”

Victoire-Eléonore, carrying a French flag with a photo of her mom, found a spot close to the podium to watch the medal ceremony. It didn't take long after Hernandez stepped on the podium for Victoire-Eléonore to start crying.

“I am very proud of her," Victoire-Eléonore said. “It is the first time I’ve seen this, first time I’ve experienced it. It’s not her first (Paralympic) Games, it is not the first time I was supposed to go. I was supposed to go to the previous Games, and I couldn’t. It is something really intense for me, very moving.”

When the national anthem ended, Hernandez turned to her daughter, kissed the medal and then repeatedly pointed to her.

Victoire-Eléonore cried even more profusely.

Hernandez kept waving and pointing to her daughter as she exited the stage after the victory ceremony.

“I tried to have a big smile on the podium, but finally there were just tears, but tears of joy, tears of work and tears of sacrifice too,” Hernandez said. “But finally tears of happiness.”

Hernandez was participating in her fourth Winter Paralympic Games. She won her first gold — also in snowboard cross — four years ago in Beijing. In Pyeongchang 2018, she won a silver and a bronze medal. Her first Paralympic Games appearance was in 2014, when she won a silver in alpine skiing in Sochi.

“For me, the secret is to be a bit separated and focused. Think about the victories, think about all the movements, the line, the jump, and think about my daughter, finally,” she said.

Hernandez, whose disability stems from multiple sclerosis, was chosen as France's official flag bearer in the Paralympic opening ceremony.

___

AP Winter Paralympics: https://apnews.com/hub/paralympic-games