Former Olympian Bessie de Létourdie passes away |10 January 2006

In 1980, De Létourdie was a member of the local delegation who represented Seychelles for the first time at the Olympic Games, competing in the XXII Olympiad in Moscow, Soviet Union (now Russia).

Running in heat number one of the 100 metres, de Létourdie, 18 years old at that time, was placed seventh with a time of 13.04 seconds for Seychelles’ first electronic timing record. She then finished sixth in a time of 26.91 seconds in the 200-metre heat.

De Létourdie clocked her fastest 200-metre time – 26.90 seconds for a Seychelles record – in 1979 during the First Indian Ocean Islands Games (IOIG) in Reunion where she won two bronze medals in the relays.

In the 4 x 100m relay, de Létourdie joined forces with Marie-Ange Wirtz, Marie-Anne César and Linda Bastienne to win the bronze medal. On the 4 x 400m relay bronze medal winning team, de Létourdie had for teammates Margaret Morel, Marie-Ange Wirtz and Marie-Anne César.

Her fastest 100-metre manual time was 12.4 seconds which she twice clocked in Zanzibar and Arusha, Tanzania in 1980. Again in Arusha that same year, she stopped the clock at 26.0 seconds for her hand timing best over 200 metres.
Her personal 400-metre hand timing best was 59.8 seconds clocked at the IOIG in Reunion in 1979.

The Seychelles Olympians Association through its president Jean-Paul Adam has expressed sadness upon hearing the passing away of Olympian de Létourdie.

Adam says  that “As a member of Seychelles’ first team who participated in the Olympic Games in 1980, Bessie helped write one of the key chapters for Olympism in Seychelles. The association offers its sincere condolences to her family, while all Seychellois sportsmen and women share in their grief.”

G. G.