Felix Lebrun
Wikipedia - Félix Lebrun
Félix Lebrun pronounced [feliks lə.bʁœ̃] (born 12 September 2006) is a French table tennis player. He was a gold medalist at the 2023 European Games and reached the top ten list of the ITTF (International Table Tennis Federation) world ranking for the first time in October 2023. As of 12 November 2024, he was number 4 in the world in the ITTF world rankings, making him the top-ranked French and European player. Stylistically, he plays with a penholder grip (with a reverse penhold backhand), which is a rarity among top players today. He won two bronze medals at the 2024 Summer Olympics, one in individual and one in team, thus becoming at 17 years the youngest ever medalist in those events, and also the youngest male medalist in Olympic table tennis. World number one in doubles with his brother at the end of 2024.
History
Born in Montpellier, Lebrun and his older brother Alexis Lebrun were raised in a family connected to table tennis. Their father, Stéphane, was ranked as high as number seven in France, while their uncle Christophe Legoût represented France at three Olympics. Like his brother, Félix Lebrun began his table tennis career at the age of three. He was inspired by Chen Jian, a penhold player from China who trained in Montpellier and Istres, leading him to adopt a penhold grip at the age of four. The Wall Street Journal compared Lebrun's playing style to that of "an old Chinese man", with American player Lily Zhang describing Lebrun's play as "very refreshing.”
In 2023, Lebrun won gold at the European Games by defeating Marcos Freitas in a seven-game final. Three months later, he won WTT Contender series event in Antalya. A series of successes propelled him into the top ten of the ITTF world ranking in October.
Lebrun won his second WTT singles event at the WTT Star Contender Goa in 2024. He continued to help the French men's team advance to the final of the 2024 World Team Championships. This marked the French team's first final appearance at the World Team Championships since 1997.
He won the bronze medal at the men's singles table tennis event of the Olympic Games in Paris in 2024 against Hugo Calderano.