Kylian Portal (born 28 November 2006) is a French para swimmer. He competed at the 2024 Summer Paralympics and won a bronze medal in the men's 400m freestyle S13, behind his brother Alex, who won silver.
 Portal at the 2024 Summer Paralympics | |||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
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| Born | 28 November 2006 Le Chesnay, France | ||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||
| Sport | Swimming | ||||||||||||||
| Classifications | S13 | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Biography
editPortal was born on 28 November 2006 in Le Chesnay, France.[1][2] He and his older brother Alex were both born with ocular albinism, a condition resulting in poor eyesight;[2][3] Kylian also has nystagmus and photophobia.[2][4] Following in the footsteps of his older brother, Portal began swimming at a young age.[5] He started swimming competitively at age seven or eight, as a member of the club Cercle des nageurs de l'ouest in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, along with his brother.[5] He initially competed against non-disabled swimmers.[5]
Portal began competing in para swimming in 2019.[5] He competes in the S13 classification.[6] Portal competed at the 2022 European Youth Championships, winning four total medals – two gold (100m freestyle, 100m butterfly) and two silver (400m freestyle, 200m medley).[2] He participated at the 2022 World Para Swimming Championships with his brother, placing fourth in the men's 400m freestyle (behind his brother, who won silver) and ninth in his heat in the 200m individual medley.[6][7] He returned for the 2023 World Para Swimming Championships and won the bronze medal in the 400m, with his brother taking the gold medal in the event.[7]
Portal attended the Saint-Augustin high school and received a scientific baccalauréat one year early.[2] He began attending the business school Ecole de Management Léonard De Vinci in 2023, at 17 years old.[2]
In December 2023, Portal and his brother received scholarships from the city of Saint-Germain-en-Laye for €5,000.[8] In 2024, a sign was installed at the entrance of the city to celebrate the two brothers' accomplishments.[8] Both were selected to compete at the 2024 Summer Paralympics in Paris.[8] At the Paralympics, Portal won the bronze medal in the 400m freestyle S13 event, one spot behind his brother, who won silver.[9][10]
References
edit- ^ "PORTAL Kylian". Paris 2024 Paralympics. (alternate link)
- ^ a b c d e f "JOP Paris 2024 : Kylian Portal, médaillé de bronze et étudiant à l'EMLV" [JOP Paris 2024: Kylian Portal, bronze medalist and student at EMLV] (in French). Ecole de Management Léonard De Vinci. 18 September 2024.
- ^ "Jeux paralympiques : portraits des deux frères nageurs Alex et Kilian Portal" [Paralympic Games: portraits of the two swimming brothers Alex and Kilian Portal] (in French). France Info. 8 October 2022.
- ^ G., Lola (29 August 2024). "Alex et Kylian Portal : de quelle rare maladie souffrent les deux frères engagés aux Jeux paralympiques de Paris ?" [Alex and Kylian Portal: what rare illness do the two brothers competing in the Paris Paralympic Games suffer from?]. Closer (in French).
- ^ a b c d Ferrand, Emma (28 August 2024). "Kylian Portal, son rêve de médaille aux Jeux paralympiques entremêlé à des études exigeantes" [Kylian Portal, his dream of a medal at the Paralympic Games intertwined with demanding studies]. Le Figaro (in French).
- ^ a b "Kylian Portal". Paralympic.org.
- ^ a b Nony, Celine (5 August 2023). "Alex Portal en or, son frère Kylian en bronze sur 400 m aux Mondiaux de para-natation" [Alex Portal in gold, his brother Kylian in bronze in the 400m at the World Para-swimming Championships]. L'Équipe (in French).
- ^ a b c Roudeillat, Philippe (14 August 2024). "Jeux paralympiques 2024 : les nageurs Alex et Kylian Portal sur les traces des Lebrun et de… Léon Marchand" [2024 Paralympic Games: Swimmers Alex and Kylian Portal in the footsteps of Lebrun and… Léon Marchand]. Actu.fr (in French).
- ^ Myers, Paul (31 August 2024). "Medalling brothers: Portals take honours in same race at Paris 2024 Paralympics". Radio France Internationale.
- ^ Kaufman, Sophie (31 August 2024). "2024 Paralympics: French Brothers Alex and Kylian Portal Share Podium, Three More WRs Fall". SwimSwam.
