FLORENCE
ALIX-GRAVELLIER
EX-WORLD'S # 1 IN WHEELCHAIR TENNIS AND DOUBLE PARALYMPIC MEDALIST
VICE-PRESIDENT, FRENCH TENNIS FEDERATION, AUTHOR, SPEAKER
“Life contradicts itself so much. We do what we can
with life.”
-Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Athlete. Woman. Disabled. From her early childhood, Florence has been questioning her identity. What words best describe her true self ? Identity seems like an elusive label around which gravitate her differences, her otherness.
Differences don't magically disappear. Each one of us needs to come to terms with them.
Her congenital hip dysfunction placed Florence in an intermediate group, neither completely able-bodied nor perfectly handicapped. With a deep faith in life, based on a liberating belief - the light always comes back - Florence journeyed to her heights, conquered them, and set off for new ones.
A graduate of Sciences Po Bordeaux, a Paralympic medalist, and an infertile mother, she has carved out a personal path for herself on the roads of life, learning to walk again after each fall. She now shares the lessons she has learned.
Can hyper-resilient people be happy in calm weather?
Here is the central question of a meditative talk meandering around invisible wounds, children's resilience, the feeling of difference, and inclusion topics. Florence takes the audience on a journey from a Parisian pediatric Hospital to Beijing Paralympics, explaining how she lives her disability, the look of others, and what is the life of a high-level athlete. She also questions us on the visibility of the difference, the words and the images that we associate with it, what we say or not, what we show or don't.
In Florence's mind, hyper-resilient people are not Super Heroes, and women, definitely not men like any others.
TOPICS:
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WE ARE ALL HUMANS
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FROM CATERPILLAR TO BUTTERFLY: LEAD YOUR TRANSFORMATION
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DISABILITY INCLUSION: TURN THE DIFFERENCE INTO WEALTH
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WOMEN: RELEASE THE LEADER IN YOU !
LANGUAGES :
LOCATION : LONDON, UK - PARIS, FR
PUBLICATION:
Walk - On the paths of life
Through an intimate and hopeful testimony on disability, difference, femininity and identity, Florence Alix-Gravellier retraces the paths of her life, from Trousseau Hospital to Louis Armstrong Stadium in Flushing Meadows.
Some failures are not really, some pains are the door to extraordinary dreams. This story is a journey through the twists and turns of life, meeting dreams that have just grazed and mingled pains, with the strength of a family motto engraved on the reverse of a medal: beyond the clouds, the sun always shines.
TESTIMONIALS:
“Florence has great humility in her words, which allows you to quickly connect with her. It is as if we already know her. It shows off an almost indestructible strength that gives out a lot of energy. Her conference was divided into 3 parts allowing interactions throughout the presentation, which gave good rhythm and dynamic. Everything was very well structured and the oratory quality is excellent. Her life course which commands respect, her accessibility, her natural and her spontaneity have given back energy to the employees and brought a surge of positivism within the teams."
- Frédérique Normand, Corporate Human Resources Director at ENGIE.
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