Barely named as the new ambassador of the renowned fashion house Dior, Aurélien Giraud, the 2023 world skateboard champion, gets his own statue at the Grévin museum.
This new wax figure will be inaugurated this Thursday, February 22 and visible to the public the next day.
Football, rugby, athletics, swimming... Although many sporting disciplines are represented at Grévin, this is the first time that a skateboard professional will be installed in the museum.
A historic moment for this sport which had to wait until 1974 to be recognized as such by the Ministry of Sports.
Today, France has 2,500 skateparks, 150 clubs and 3,000 licensees.
Future competitor for the 2024 Olympics
Aged 25, Lyonnais Aurélien Giraud began skateboarding at just 5 years old.
Taken by a real passion, the little boy trained without fail on the concrete of the Gerland skatepark and won his first national competition at the age of 7.
At 17, the athlete moved up a notch and won his first major competition as an amateur in the United States.
It didn't take long for him to make a name for himself in the world of French and then international skateboarding by competing in major professional competitions before obtaining first place at the French Championships in Biarritz, in 2019, and in Hyères in 2022.
It is finally in February 2023 that the consecration arrives for Aurélien Giraud, who becomes world champion of street skateboarding in the United Arab Emirates at only 25 years old.
During this competition, the riders aim to perform tricks (acrobatic figures) on street furniture such as ramps, stairs or even benches.
In the meantime, the year 2017 marked a real revolution in this discipline which officially became an Olympic sport and allowed Aurélien Giraud to participate in the first edition during the Tokyo Games in 2020. If he is currently completing the qualifying events of the World Skate Tour, and has already won the second title during the first qualifying event in Rome, the athlete's next goal is simple: to win the gold medal at the Paris 2024 Games which will be held in the capital in a little more than five months.
Six months of work for the statue
It is in this context that the rising star was chosen to join the great personalities already stored at the Grévin museum.
The plastiline statue of Aurélien Giraud was designed by the creator and sculptor
Stéphane Barret, at the origin of the statues of many other stars such as Denis Brogniart, Alexandra Lamy, Soprano and Angelina Jolie.
Interplay of photos, videos, 3D image captures, facial and body measurements, molding of hands… This custom creation required no less than six months of work.
Aurélien Giraud's model will be exhibited alongside other great athletes such as swimmer Camille Lacourt, judoka Teddy Riner and judokate Clarisse Agbégnénou.
Since the start of 2023, the Grévin museum has welcomed a total of ten new statues: Denis Brogniart, Antoine Griezmann, Audrey Fleurot, Antoine Dupont, Frédéric Michalak, Matthieu Chedid, Dwayne Johnson, Luc Plamondon, Paw Patrol and finally Jane Goodall.