Monique Maurice Hall inaugurated
Monique Maurice (1956-2006) was in international Technical Official, the spouse of Jean-Paul Bulgaridhes, former President of the French Weightlifting Federation and IWF Executive Board Member. Her charisma, her dynamism left no-one indifferent. An active weightlifter herself, Monique Maurice became Masters World Champion in 1996 and 2000 and won the 1998 World Masters Games. With her Club of Villeneuve-Loubet (near Nice, South of France), she co-organised the under 16 European Championships in 2002 and the World University Championships in 2005. The Villeneuve-Loubet Club today boasts 1,100 members of which 80 are weightlifting competitors and it has been the Number 1 Club in France for years.
The township of Villeneuve-Loubet decided to dedicate a brand new sports complex to the memory of Monique Maurice who died in a cycling accident on 29 August 2006.
In the presence of Lionnel Luca, Mayor of Villeneuve-Loubet and Jean-Paul Bulgaridhes, Deputy Mayor, the "Monique Maurice Hall" was officially inaugurated and they unveiled the plaque and a symbolic barbell sculpture to commemorate this extraordinary weightlifting enthusiast.
(Source: J.P. Bulgaridhes)