Listen to the podcast

Watch the interview with Maud Perrin

Episode summary

In this episode of the podcast La Sportive Outdoor, we meet Maud Perrin. At the age of 25, this Chamonix-based athlete is a world champion in acrobatic paragliding. Between technical records, a major accident and psychological reconstruction, she talks about a career in which the search for self has become as important as pure performance.

From the Chartreuse to the summits: a family vocation

Although she grew up in Chartreuse, it was during her parents’ expatriations, notably to Angola and Scotland, that Maud forged her bond with the air. Watching her father paraglide inspired her to give it a try of her own. After her first tandem flight with him at the age of 10 on Lac d’Aiguebelette, she never looked back.

Her apprenticeship was rigorously supervised by her parents. Before she was allowed to fly on her own at the age of 14, she had to complete 100 hours of inflation training (working the glider on the ground), a crucial step for her safety. . She took her first flights alongside her brother, Jules, with whom she shares this passion for the mountains.

Acrobatics: the art of technical precision

Maud Perrin quickly turned to acrobatics, attracted by the extreme technicality and “black and white” aspect of the discipline, where every mistake is immediately visible. This choice also enabled her to distinguish herself from her brother, who was at the time enrolled in the Pôle Espoir for long-distance flying.

In competition, athletes are graded on three pillars: technique, choreography and landing (often on a raft above the water). Maud excels with complex figures such as theInfinity Tumbling or the Stall to Infinite. In fact, she was the first woman to perform certain maneuvers, sometimes driven by the challenge of proving her physical strength against her male counterparts.

The crash of 2023: when the lights turn red

In 2023, during a demonstration at the Natural Games in Millau, Maud’s career was turned upside down. Psychological and technical factors were tragically intertwined: a recent glider change, an ego stung by inequalities in sponsorship contracts and an altitude too low for the maneuver involved. The accident was violent, resulting in an 18-hour blackout for the athlete.

The medical check-up revealed the extent of the shock and subsequent complications:

• Total fracture of the pelvis and broken ribs.
• Fractures of the transverse processes.
• Pulmonary embolism and pneumothorax.
• Meningitis and infection of surgical equipment requiring a return to the OR.
• Persistent neurological sequelae in the right leg and foot.

Reconstruction: flying to find yourself

Against all the odds, Maud managed to walk again after three months, and returned to acrobatic flight just five months after her crash. This return was not without its setbacks, marked by anxiety attacks in mid-flight. To manage this risk, she adapted her training, favoring sessions in Turkey over water to secure her new maneuvers.

Despite a trying season in which her shoulder regularly dislocated in the air, she dominated the world circuit in 2025. However, this external success masked a psychological exhaustion that led her to embark on deep therapeutic work. Today, she accepts that progress is sometimes slower, but more conscious and aligned with her personal needs.

Being a woman in a masculine environment

Maud Perrin takes a lucid look at the place of women in paragliding. She underlines the difficulty of existing in a very masculine environment, where rankings are often mixed (scratch) to compensate for the lack of female participants. She advocates a more “feminine” vision of the sport, based on a finer, more vulnerable narrative of risk, far removed from the traditional quest for virility.

Conclusion: new horizons

Follow Maud

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/maud.perrin/