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French gymnast Melanie de Jesus dos Santos is trying to take advantage every moment between now and the start of the Olympic Games Paris 2024.
“I know that the Games are coming very quickly, but I tell myself that I still have time to refine my elements and my movements,” she told Olympics.com in an exclusive interview in May. “My coaches would tell me that I don’t have to be perfect, but I still really want to refine my moves and get closer to excellence because that’s the way it is. That’s my gymnastics style.
“I know it may be a fault,” she continued, “but that’s the way I am."
That drive for perfection and her gymnastics style have set the 24-year-old apart on gymnastics’ international scene. De Jesus dos Santos has been France’s top female gymnast since the end of the Olympic Games Rio 2016.
She confirmed that status on Sunday (9 June) by claiming her national all-around title for a fourth time. She has also captured seven European medals, including a 2019 all-around win, and was an integral part of a historic team bronze medal at last year’s World Championships.
That historic medal in Antwerp where de Jesus dos Santos delivered the final, crucial routine on the balance beam, has given her a boost ahead of her home Games, she says.
“It was really incredible because we didn’t expect too much, but it turns out that we had a very good competition, so it was really a great reward for us,” de Jesus dos Santos reflected.
For the past two years, the Martinique-native has trained in the U.S., alongside seven-time Olympic medallist Simone Biles in Houston, with coaches Laurent and Cecile Landi, the latter of whom represented France at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta.
Though she may be an ocean away, Team France has come to train with her and the Landis on more than one occasion and she still follows the squad closely, including during their recent bronze-medal win at the European Championships.
“I follow them all the time. I watched it from afar,” de Jesus dos Santos said. “I am very proud of them because I know how difficult the preparation was.”
“We’ve known each other for a very long time, by heart,” she says of the French squad. “I think that’s our strength. We know each other so much that we know what to do. We know what we are not going to do, we know what to say and we are really united.
“I think that’s a strength of this team.”
She reunited with her long-time teammates in late May, leaving her home away from home in Houston.
“I’m a bit nostalgic,” she admitted. “I know that it is almost the end of the adventure, and I’m really taking advantage of these last moments to enjoy. I’m going to France for all the preparation and I’ll stay until the Games.
“Then, I’ll go back to Martinique and we’ll see what I do next,” she concluded.
Part of what’s next will include a second turn through Biles’ national U.S. arena touring show, ‘Gold Over America.’
De Jesus dos Santos was part of the show three years ago and is relishing the opportunity to do it all again.
“I am very happy to be part of this show because it is huge!” she said. “The fact that Simone invited me again is amazing because I know that I’m going to have fun and that it will be gymnastics in a different form. I can’t wait to enjoy this show.”
As for more gymnastics in its traditional form? Well, that’s to be determined.
“I feel like I am old, honestly!” de Jesus dos Santos says with a laugh. “I don’t know. I don’t plan. I tell myself, ‘We’ll see what life has in store for me. Am I going back to the United States? Am I going back to Martinique? Am I going to Paris for work opportunities?’
“Because you should know that I am studying fashion design and that maybe I would really like to make a career out of it,” she continues. “We’ll see if I want to go back to gymnastics or not. We’ll see what life has in store for me.”
But for now: she’s squarely focused on Paris 2024.
“I’m so excited, but I’m scared at the same time. The fact that it is in Paris is something extraordinary,” she said. “I think these are going to be my best Games and I am really going to try to have fun and enjoy myself.
“I can’t wait to see how it goes.”
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