Félix Lebrun (; born 12 September 2006) is a French

table tennis Table tennis (also known as ping-pong) is a racket sport derived from tennis but distinguished by its playing surface being atop a stationary table, rather than the Tennis court, court on which players stand. Either individually or in teams of ...

player and 2025 French national champion. He was a gold medalist at the

2023 European Games The 3rd European Games (), also known as the 2023 European Games or Kraków-Małopolska 2023, was an international multi-sport event held from 21 June to 2 July 2023 in Kraków and Lesser Poland Voivodeship, Małopolska, Poland. It was the first ...

and reached the top ten list of the ITTF (International Table Tennis Federation) world ranking for the first time in October 2023. he was ranked 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 The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...

, one in

individual An individual is one that exists as a distinct entity. Individuality (or self-hood) is the state or quality of living as an individual; particularly (in the case of humans) as a person unique from other people and possessing one's own needs or g ...

and one in

team A team is a group of individuals (human or non-human) working together to achieve their goal. As defined by Professor Leigh Thompson of the Kellogg School of Management, " team is a group of people who are interdependent with respect to in ...

, thus becoming at 17 years the youngest ever medalist in those events, and also the youngest male medalist in Olympic table tennis. In October 2024, he became the first French player to win a WTT Champions tournament in

Montpellier Montpellier (; ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of France, department of ...

. By the end of 2024, he also became world's top ranked doubles player along with his elder brother

Alexis Lebrun Alexis Lebrun (; born 27 August 2003) is a French table tennis player and a three-time French national champion, from years 2022 to 2024. He also became European champion in 2024 and won the Europe Top-16 tournament in 2025, consolidating his st ...

. In March 2025, he became the French national table tennis champion by defeating Alexis in the final.

Career

Born in

, Lebrun and his older brother

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 Istres (; Occitan: Istre) is a commune in southern France, some 60 km (38 mi) northwest of Marseille. It is in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, in the Bouches-du-Rhône department, of which it is a subprefecture. Location I ...

, leading him to adopt a penhold grip at the age of four. The ''

Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...

'' compared Lebrun's playing style to that of "an old Chinese man", with American player Lily Zhang describing Lebrun's play as "very refreshing".

2023

In 2023, Lebrun won gold at the

European Games The European Games is a continental multi-sport event in the Olympic tradition contested by athletes from countries served by national Olympic committees within the European Olympic Committees (EOC), the regional association for such committ ...

by defeating

Marcos Freitas Marcos André Sousa da Silva Freitas (born 8 April 1988) is a Portuguese table tennis player who won European Championships medals in singles, doubles, and team events. He represented Portugal four times at the Summer Olympics. Career Frei ...

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.

2024

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. In March, Félix Lebrun became one the youngest players to reached the top 5 of the WTT rankings. He won the bronze medal at the men's singles table tennis event of the Olympic Games in Paris in 2024 against Hugo Calderano. In October 2024, he became the first French player to won a WTT Champions tournament in

. In November 2024, Félix and his brother Alexis become world number one in doubles after their victory at the WTT Finals in

Fukuoka is the List of Japanese cities by population, sixth-largest city in Japan and the capital city of Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. The city is built along the shores of Hakata Bay, and has been a center of international commerce since ancient times. ...

.https://www.lequipe.fr/Tennis-de-table/Actualites/Les-freres-lebrun-titres-aux-finales-du-circuit-wtt-et-deviennent-numero-1-mondiaux-en-double/1522184

2025

In March 2025, Felix became the French National Table Tennis Champion by defeating his elder brother Alexis.

Singles titles

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lebrun, Felix French male table tennis players 2006 births Sportspeople from Montpellier Living people Table tennis players at the 2023 European Games European Games gold medalists for France European Games medalists in table tennis World Table Tennis Championships medalists Table tennis players at the 2024 Summer Olympics Olympic table tennis players for France Medalists at the 2024 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medalists for France Olympic medalists in table tennis Occitan sportspeople 21st-century French sportsmen