France News

French president gives Legion d'Honneur to Dame Ellen MacArthur

Friday, 28 March 2008

French president gives Legion d'Honneur to Dame Ellen MacArthur

French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who has been visiting the UK with his wife Carla Bruni, was delighted to meet woman sailor Dame Ellen MacArthur and he awarded her the Legion d'Honneur, which is his country's highest honour.

Nicolas Sarkozy awarded Ellen MacArthur, 32, with the Legion d'Honneur at the Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich and he said: "Your courage, tenacity and talent have made you a woman admired and loved on both sides of the channel."

Yachtswoman Dame Ellen MacArthur first shot to fame in 2001 when, aged only 24, she single-handedly sailed non-stop around the world in the Vendee Globe Race.

President Nicolas Sarkozy went on to say to Ellen MacArthur: "It's not only your long list of feats which explains your place in our hearts. It's also your boundless generosity constantly conveyed by what you do, what you say and the way you look at the world about you."

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