Angélique Berthenet-Hidalgo (born September 18, 1976) is a French retired amateur freestyle wrestler, who competed in the women's flyweight category. Considering one of the world's top female freestyle wrestlers in her decade, Berthenet has claimed a silver medal in the 47-kg division at the

1996 World Wrestling Championships The 1996 Women's World Wrestling Championships were held in Sofia, Bulgaria. Medal table Team ranking Medal summary Participating nations 105 competitors from 20 nations participated. * (3) * (3) * (2) * (9) * (9) * (4) * (9) * (1) * (1) ...

Sofia, Bulgaria Sofia is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain, in the western part of the country. The city is built west of the Is ...

, produced a staggering tally of five medals (one gold and four bronze) at the

European Championships A European Championship is the top level international sports competition between European athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. In the plural, the European Championships also refers t ...

, and offered a chance to represent her country France at the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

. Throughout her sporting career, Berthenet trained full-time for Dammarie Sport Wrestling Club (), under her personal coach Ryszard Chelmowski. Berthenet made sporting headlines at the

, where she won a silver medal in the women's 47-kg division, losing to the U.S. wrestler Tricia Saunders. In the same year, she won her first European championship title in the same category, and continued to produce four more medals (1997, 1998, 2002, and 2003) in her career. Eventually, she entered the

2003 World Wrestling Championships The following is the final results of the 2003 World Wrestling Championships. The Freestyle Competition was held in New York City, New York (state), New York, while the Greco-Roman Competition was held in Créteil, France. Medal table Team ranki ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, United States, and came strong as a top medal contender in her category. Though she finished sixth in the women's flyweight, Berthenet qualified for her first Olympics and was officially selected to the French Olympic team. When women's wrestling made its debut at the

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

, Berthenet seized her opportunity to compete in the inaugural 48 kg class. In the prelim pool, Berthenet opened her match by dismantling Mongolia's

Tsogtbazaryn Enkhjargal Tsogtbazaryn Enkhjargal (; born April 6, 1981, in Erdenebüren sum, Khovd aimag) is an amateur Mongolian freestyle wrestler, who competed in the women's flyweight category. Between 2001 and 2011, Enkhjargal had won a total of six medals (two go ...

with a 7–4 decision, and then easily pinned Guinea-Bissau's Leopoldina Ross within the first minute to secure a place in the semifinals. She lost the next day's semifinal match 12–0 in superb fashion to Japan's

Chiharu Icho is a Japanese sport wrestling, wrestler who competed in the 48 kg Wrestling weight classes, weight class at the Wrestling at the 2004 Summer Olympics – Women's freestyle 48 kg, 2004 and Wrestling at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Women's fr ...

, and could not hold an early lead to throw the U.S. wrestler

Patricia Miranda Patricia Noriko Miranda (born June 11, 1979) is a former United States, American collegiate wrestler. She became the first American woman in Olympic Games, Olympic history to receive a medal in woman's Olympic sport wrestling, wrestling, winning ...

off the mat with a tough, 4–12 decision for the bronze medal, dropping her position to fourth.
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References

External links

Profile – International Wrestling Database
* 1976 births Living people French female sport wrestlers Olympic wrestlers for France Wrestlers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Sportspeople from Melun World Wrestling Championships medalists European Wrestling Championships medalists 20th-century French sportswomen 21st-century French sportswomen {{France-wrestling-bio-stub