| Mélanie de Jesus dos Santos | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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de Jesus dos Santos at World Champions Centre in Texas | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Mélanie Johanna de Jesus dos Santos | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | (2000-03-05)5 March 2000 (age 25) Schœlcher,Martinique, France | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.52 m (5 ft 0 in)[1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Gymnastics career | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Discipline | Women's artistic gymnastics | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Country represented | (2013–present) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Club | Kréyol Gym Fort-de-France | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Gym | World Champions Centre /INSEP | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Headcoach(es) | Cécile andLaurent Landi | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Formercoach(es) | Eric Hagard, Monique Hagard | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Choreographer | Grégory Milan | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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| Awards | Longines Prize for Elegance (2019) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Mélanie Johanna de Jesus dos Santos (born 5 March 2000)[2] is a Frenchartistic gymnast. She was a member of the bronze medal-winning team at the2023 World Championships. She is the2019 European all-around champion, a two time European champion on thefloor exercise (2018,2019), and the2021 European champion on thebalance beam. She is also the 2018 European silver medalist with the French team, the 2019 European silver medalist on the balance beam, and the2017 European bronze medalist in the all-around. She representedFrance at the 2020 Summer Olympics where she placed sixth with the team and on the uneven bars and eleventh in the all-around. She is the 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2024 French all-around champion, and she won theLongines Prize for Elegance in 2019.
De Jesus dos Santos was born inSchœlcher, Martinique, a French island. Her father is Portuguese and her mother is Martinican. She has two half-sisters, who live in Portugal with their father.[3] She began gymnastics at age five at a club inLa Trinité.[4] She moved toSaint-Étienne in mainland France in 2013 to join theFrench national team and to train with Eric and Monique Hagard.[5][6] She speaks French, English, andMartinican Creole.[1]In 2022, she moved toWorld Champions Centre in Texas to train withLaurent andCécile Landi.
At the 2015 French Championships, de Jesus dos Santos placed second in the all-around behindLorette Charpy. She also finished fifth on theuneven bars and floor exercise.[7] She helped the French team finish fourth at the 2015 FIT Challenge, and she also placed fourth in the all-around.[8] During the qualification round of the2015 European Youth Olympic Festival, shetore her ACL while performing a double twistingYurchenkovault. Due to the injury, she was unable to compete for several months.[9]
De Jesus dos Santos returned to competition in June at the French National Championships inMulhouse, placing fourth in the all-around, balance beam, and floor exercise.[9] She was not selected for France's 2016 Olympic team.[10] In July, she helped France win a dual meet against Romania, and she won the all-around gold medal.[11] At the Joaquim Blume Memorial in November, she won the silver medal in the all-around behind Belgium'sNina Derwael.[12] She ended her season at the Élite Gym Massilia where she won the balance beam gold medal, the team silver medal, and the all-around bronze medal, and placed fourth on the uneven bars.[13]
In March, de Jesus dos Santos competed in theAmerican Cup, where she won the bronze medal behindRagan Smith andAsuka Teramoto. She became the second French gymnast to medal at the American Cup afterElvire Teza won the gold medal in 1997.[14][15] She then competed at theCity of Jesolo Trophy where she placed fourth with the team and on the balance beam, eighth on the uneven bars, and ninth in the all-around.[16]
At the2017 European Championships inCluj-Napoca,Romania, de Jesus dos Santos qualified for two finals: the all-around and uneven bars. She finished third in the all-around behindEllie Downie ofGreat Britain andZsófia Kovács ofHungary. She was the first French gymnast to win an all-around medal at the European Championships sinceMarine Debauve in 2005.[17]
De Jesus dos Santos became the French all-around champion, beating reigning championMarine Boyer by 1.400 points with a total score of 55.450. She also won a silver medal on the balance beam.[18] She then won the silver medal on the uneven bars at theParis World Challenge Cup.[19] At the2017 World Championships inMontreal, she finished fifth in the all-around.[20] After the World Championships, she competed at the Élite Gym Massilia where she won gold medals with the team and on the uneven bars. She also won the silver medal in the all-around behindAngelina Simakova and placed fourth on the floor exercise.[21] Her final competition of the season was the Toyota International, where she won the uneven bars gold medal and the balance beam silver medal behindSanne Wevers.[22]
At theDoha World Cup, de Jesus dos Santos won the bronze medal on the uneven bars and the gold medal on the balance beam.[23] She then won the bronze medal in the all-around at the Tokyo World Cup behindMai Murakami andTrinity Thomas.[24] In May, she received three gold medals at the French Championships in the all-around, uneven bars, and floor exercise.[25] She defended her all-around title at the French Championships and also won gold medals on the uneven bars and the floor exercise.[26] She also won the all-around gold medal at the Sainté Gym Cup and helped France win over Germany and Switzerland.[27]

In August, de Jesus dos Santos competed at theEuropean Championships inGlasgow alongsideJuliette Bossu,Lorette Charpy,Marine Boyer,Coline Devillard, and they finished first in the qualification round.[28] The French team won the silver medal in the team final, behind Russia.[29] De Jesus dos Santos qualified for two event finals, finishing in sixth place on balance beam and winning gold on floor exercise. She became the third French gymnast to win thefloor exercise title at the European Championships afterLudivine Furnon in 2000 andIsabelle Séverino in 2005.[30]
At the Paris World Challenge Cup, de Jesus dos Santos won the gold medal on floor exercise.[31] She was selected to compete at theWorld Championships alongsideJuliette Bossu,Lorette Charpy,Marine Boyer, andLouise Vanhille. The team qualified into the team final for the first time at a major international competition since the2008 Olympic Games.[32] The team ultimately finished fifth in the team final, their best finish at theWorld Artistic Gymnastics Championships since 1997.[33] Individually, de Jesus dos Santos qualified for the all-around and floor exercise finals and finished sixth in both.[34][35] After the World Championships, she competed at theSwiss Cup on a mixed team withJulien Gobaux, and they finished ninth.[36]
De Jesus dos Santos competed at the EnBW DTB-Pokal Team Challenge in Stuttgart where France placed fourth in the team final.[37] She was selected to compete at theEuropean Championships alongsideMarine Boyer,Lorette Charpy, andColine Devillard.[38] She won the all-around gold medal ahead of the 2017 European ChampionEllie Downie.[39] In the event finals, she successfully defended her floor exercise title, won silver on balance beam behindAlice Kinsella of Great Britain, and finished seventh on uneven bars. This made her the most decorated female gymnast of the championships, tied withAngelina Melnikova of Russia. She was the first French gymnast to ever win three medals at a single European Championships.[40]
In June, de Jesus dos Santos won her third consecutive French all-around title, and she won the uneven bars and floor exercise titles.[41] On 3 September, she was named to the team to compete at theWorld Championships inStuttgart,Germany alongsideLorette Charpy,Marine Boyer,Coline Devillard, andAline Friess.[42] Later that month she competed at theParis Challenge Cup where she won gold on uneven bars and placed seventh on balance beam.[43] Then during thequalification round at the World Championships, she led the French team to qualify to the team final in fourth place behind the United States, China, and Russia. Individually, she qualified to the all-around final in third place behindSimone Biles andSunisa Lee of the United States, the balance beam final in sixth place, and the floor exercise final in fifth place.[44] In the team final, de Jesus dos Santos contributed an all-around score of 55.498 to help France finish in fifth place.[45] This resultqualified France for a team spot at the 2020 Olympic Games.[46] In the all-around final, she fell off the uneven bars twice and finished all the way down in twentieth place.[47] In event finals, she still finished off the podium, placing fifth on beam and fifth again on floor. She was awarded theLongines Prize for Elegance alongside AmericanSam Mikulak.[48]
In February, it was announced that de Jesus dos Santos would represent France at the2020 Tokyo World Cup.[49] However, the event was canceled due to theCOVID-19 pandemic in Japan.[50] She did not compete in any international competitions in 2020.[51]
De Jesus dos Santos competed at the2021 European Championships inBasel. During the qualification round, she only competed on the uneven bars, where she fell, and the balance beam, where she qualified to the event final. During the event finals, she won gold on the balance beam, becoming the first FrenchEuropean Champion on the apparatus.[52] Then at the FIT Challenge, she helped France win the team gold medal, and she won the all-around gold medal and the uneven bars silver medal behindNina Derwael.[53]
On 14 June, de Jesus dos Santos was selected to representFrance at the 2020 Summer Olympics alongsideMarine Boyer,Aline Friess, andCarolann Héduit.[54] At the Olympics, de Jesus dos Santos helped France qualify tothe team final where they finished sixth.[55] She also placed eleventh inthe all-around final with a total score of 53.698.[56] De Jesus dos Santos was initially the first reserve forthe uneven bars final but was called up to compete in the final afterSimone Biles withdrew.[57] She finished sixth in the final with a score of 14.033.[58]
Following the Olympics, de Jesus dos Santos joined the cast of Biles'Gold Over America Tour.[59]
In April, de Jesus dos Santos moved toHouston to train at theWorld Champions Centre, the same gym asSimone Biles, under coachesCecile andLaurent Landi.[60] In October de Jesus dos Santos was named to the team to compete at theWorld Championships in Liverpool alongsideMarine Boyer,Coline Devillard,Aline Friess, andCarolann Héduit.[61]

In September de Jesus dos Santos competed at theParis World Challenge Cup where she won gold on the uneven bars and on floor exercise.
She next competed at the2023 World Championships alongsideMarine Boyer,Lorette Charpy,Coline Devillard,Morgane Osyssek-Reimer, and alternateDjenna Laroui. Together they won the bronze medal in the team event, which was the first World Championships team medal for France since 1950.[62][63] De Jesus dos Santos competed next in the all-around final where she ended up placing tenth.
She ended the year competing at the Arthur Gander Memorial, where she placed second behindJulia Soares of Brazil,[64] and theSwiss Cup where she was partnered withJim Zona; they finished fifth.
In March 2024, de Jesus dos Santos announced that she was working on a new uneven bars routine[65] after struggling to compete successfully her older routine counting multiple falls on herNabieva release. She chose to bring back inbar stalders in her routine allowing her to increase the difficulty while shortening her routine. She also announced that was working on a new floor routine usingEzio Bosso's music choreographed by French dancer and choreographer Grégory Milan.[65]

In March, she competed at theWorld Challenge Cup in Antalya where she won gold on the uneven bars and won bronze on floor exercise.[66] In April she competed at theWorld Challenge Cup in Osijek, Croatia. She won two gold medals – one on the uneven bars and one on floor exercise; additionally she won bronze on balance beam.[67] De Jesus does Santos announced that she would skip the2024 European Championships in order to focus on perfecting her routines in preparation for the2024 Olympic Games.[65]
In July de Jesus dos Santos was officially selected to representFrance at the 2024 Summer Olympics alongsideMarine Boyer,Coline Devillard,Morgane Osyssek, andMing van Eijken.[68] During the qualification round the French team suffered multiple mishaps. De Jesus dos Santos fell off the uneven bars while performing her routine, grabbed the balance beam while performing on that apparatus, and fell on floor exercise while performing her double layout.[69] As a result the French team finished eleventh and did not advance to the team final.[70] Additionally de Jesus dos Santos did not qualify for any individual finals but was the third reserve for theindividual all-around final.
De Jesus Dos Santos ended the year performing onSimone Biles'Gold Over America Tour, for the second time.
| Apparatus | Name | Description | Difficulty[a] | Performed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vault | Baitova | Yurchenko entry, laid out salto backwards with two twists | 5.0 | 2017-23 |
| Uneven Bars | Bhardwaj | Laid out salto from high bar to low bar with full twist | E | 2019-22 |
| Double Layout 1/1 | Dismount: Full-twisting (1/1) double laid out salto backwards | 2017-24 | ||
| Inbar 1/1 | Inbar Stalder to full (1/1) pirouette | 2024 | ||
| Komova II | Inbar stalder Shaposhnikova transition to high bar | 2017-19 | ||
| Galante | Inbar stalder Tkatchev straddled | 2017-19 | ||
| Van Leeuwen | Toe-on Shaposhnikova transition with ½ twist to high bar | 2017-24 | ||
| Downie | Stalder Tkatchev piked | F | 2024 | |
| Nabieva | Toe-on Tkatchev laid out | 2021-23 | ||
| Balance Beam | Double Pike | Dismount: Double piked salto backwards | E | 2022-24 |
| Front Pike | Piked salto forwards to cross stand | 2017-22 | ||
| Front Pike Mount | Mount: Piked salto forwards to cross stand from end of beam | 2017-24 | ||
| Switch Ring | Switch Leap to Ring Position (180° split with raised back leg) | 2016-17, 2021–22 | ||
| Layout | Laid out salto backwards with legs together (to two feet) | 2017-22, 2024 | ||
| Full-in | Dismount: Full-twisting (1/1) double tucked salto backwards | G | 2021 | |
| Floor Exercise | Mitchell | 1080° (3/1) turn in tuck stand on one leg | E | 2019-24 |
| Mukhina | Full-twisting (1/1) double tucked salto backwards | 2016-22 | ||
| Double Layout | Double laid out salto backwards | F | 2024 | |
| Chusovitina | Full-twisting (1/1) double laid out salto backwards | H | 2017-21, 2023-24 | |
| Silivas | Double-twisting (2/1) double tucked salto backwards | 2019 |


| Year | Event | Team | AA | VT | UB | BB | FX |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Junior French Championships | 5 | 5 | ||||
| FIT Challenge | 4 | 4 | |||||
| European Youth Olympic Festival | 6 | ||||||
| 2016 | French Championships | 4 | 4 | 4 | |||
| FRA-ROU Friendly | |||||||
| Joaquim Blume Memorial | |||||||
| Élite Gym Massilia | 4 | ||||||
| 2017 | American Cup | ||||||
| City of Jesolo Trophy | 4 | 9 | 8 | 4 | |||
| European Championships | 8 | ||||||
| French Championships | 5 | ||||||
| Paris World Challenge Cup | 4 | 7 | |||||
| World Championships | 5 | R2 | R1 | ||||
| Élite Gym Massilia | 4 | ||||||
| Toyota International | |||||||
| 2018 | Doha World Cup | ||||||
| Tokyo World Cup | |||||||
| French Championships | 6 | ||||||
| Sainté Gym Cup | |||||||
| European Championships | 4 | ||||||
| Paris World Challenge Cup | 8 | ||||||
| World Championships | 5 | 6 | 6 | ||||
| Swiss Cup | 9 | ||||||
| 2019 | EnBW DTB-Pokal Team Cup | 4 | |||||
| European Championships | 7 | ||||||
| French Championships | 6 | ||||||
| Paris World Challenge Cup | 7 | ||||||
| World Championships | 5 | 20 | 5 | 5 | |||
| 2021 | |||||||
| European Championships | |||||||
| FIT Challenge | |||||||
| Olympic Games | 6 | 11 | 6 | ||||
| 2022 | Paris World Challenge Cup | 6 | |||||
| World Championships | 8 | WD | R1 | ||||
| 2023 | French Championships | ||||||
| Paris World Challenge Cup | |||||||
| World Championships | 10 | ||||||
| Arthur Gander Memorial | |||||||
| Swiss Cup | 5 | ||||||
| 2024 | Antalya World Challenge Cup | ||||||
| Osijek World Challenge Cup | |||||||
| Olympic Games | 11 | R3 |