Paris 2024 Paralympics | They will give us chills: Laurent Chardard
A few years ago, Laurent Chardard was attacked by a shark while bodyboarding on the French island La Réunion. His right arm and leg had to be amputated. His courage and willpower kept him afloat after this terrible accident and helped him reach the highest level in his sport, Para swimming. His most recent results at the World Championships allow him to aim for the highest rewards at the Paris 2024 games.
Laurent Chardard’s survival is a miracle. On August 27th, 2016, like every summer, he was enjoying one of his favourite activities, on his favourite island, La Réunion. Even though he was in an area that was protected by nets, he was savagely attacked by a shark, while on his bodyboard. “The waves were really beautiful that day, he recalled for the Libération newspaper. The red flag was up. But as surfers we don’t look at flags, they’re for swimmers. For us, the bigger the waves, the happier we are...In this instance, they were breaking over the nets and the shark must have gone over with one. The attack was lightning fast. There were about twenty of us in the water, I was paddling towards the peak, where we wait for the waves, so out to sea, and just when I had my right arm in the water, something caught it. And that thing pulled me underwater. I hit it and hit it with my other hand, and I got back up on my board. The arm was cut off. I shouted that there was a shark, and everyone got out of the water.”
With his right arm and left thumb missing, Laurent Chardard tried not to panic and to get back out to where he could catch a wave strong enough to push him to the beach. Instead of that, the shark attacked him again and ripped out the inner part of his right thigh. Fortunately, a jet ski was able to pick him up on the surface. His pain was intense, he was given injections and rapidly loaded onto a helicopter. He woke up a few days later with his right leg and arm amputated, only his left thumb could be saved. But he was still alive, and that’s what mattered the most to him.
During his yearlong rehabilitation, this young man with his extraordinary strength of character and winning smile never let himself despair. The urge to go back out surfing which hadn’t left him, lead him to swim practice. And thanks to a specially made prosthetic, he continues to have fun surfing and bodyboarding.
Perseverance as a motto
"Find what you enjoy and persevere." This positive phrase is a motto for Laurent Chaudard. His exceptional performances with the Bordeaux club Guyenne Handinages allowed him to participate in the most prestigious championships. A disappointing (for him) fourth place, at the Tokyo Paralympic games of 2020, forced him to reconsider what he was doing.
Taking up a part time job as an engineer, changing his coach, and training with able-bodied athletes, brought back his mojo. His results rapidly confirmed this. At the most recent World championships, in Manchester in 2023, he reached the highest step of the podium for the 50m butterfly stroke and won a bronze medal for the 50m freestyle as well as a silver for the 4x100m freestyle.
His performances at the latest European championships in Funchal attest to this: Laurent Chardard is more than ready for the Paris 2024 Paralympic games.