One cries with sadness, the other smiles with intoxication. On Saturday 31st August, the 400m freestyle, reserved for swimmers with visual impairments, provoked contradictory emotions in the Portal brothers. Alex, aged 22, won silver behind the untouchable Ihar Boki (winner in 3 min, 58 sec 37) and his younger brother, Kylian, aged 17, took bronze. Alex Portal had high hopes of beating the Belarusian Tsar, his bête noire, crowned by 19my times during the Paralympic Games.
Near the warm-up pool, the little brother hugged his inconsolable elder. “I would have loved to be able to offer us a Marseillaise, It’s sport… (…) He should have “killed” the race earlier, but the Belarusian was very strong.” The Paralympic runner-up flagellated himself.
Alex Portal, who won silver in the 100m butterfly on Thursday and bronze in the 100m backstroke on Friday, put on a smile during the ceremony, in front of a sea of tricolour flags and two posters representing his two faces. “We made the most of the podium with Kylian, I am very proud of him, of his time, of what he did, it is huge. He fully deserves it.”
In the qualifying heats on Saturday morning, he brought his younger brother with him for his Paralympic baptism. In the final, Kylian Portal swam “50 m of his life” in the eighth and final section of these 400 m to be the third to touch the wall. “I said to myself: ‘This is my moment, in front of the crowd in Paris, I have to do it.’ A podium with my brother is incredible, I’m so proud of what we did with Alex. I’m looking forward to starting again,” said the teenager, who has two more races left during these Games: the 100m freestyle (September 4) and the 100m butterfly (September 7).
A thunderous ovation
As soon as they took to the stage, the two brothers, with scarlet manes and the image of Phryge, the Paris 2024 mascot, on their heads, received a thunderous ovation from the 15,000 spectators at the Paris La Défense Arena. In the basin, the two residents of the Ile-de-France made the most of this “hometown” advantage. In Alex’s case, the formula is fully justified, since the future renewable energy expert studies at the Léonard-de-Vinci School of Engineering, 600 metres from the Nanterre bathing area.
Every day, before and after their classes, the two brothers train in the waters of the Dôme de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, in Yvelines, the birthplace of the family. “Their complicity is what makes them strong. Kylian is a bit fiery, he tends to be a bit more exuberant than his brother Alex, who is more reserved, more measured. describes Guillaume Domingo, performance director of the French para-swimming team.
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