Penpix of French sports stars killed in helicopter crash

PARIS, March 10 (Reuters) - Following are penpix of the three French sports stars killed in a helicopter crash in Argentina on Monday. Florence Arthaud, born 28/10/1957 French sailor Florence Arthaud, known as the "Fiancee of the Atlantic", entered her first major international race, the Route du Rhum in 1978, just a few years after a car accident that nearly left her paralysed at the age of 17. After a respectable 11th place in her first attempt she went on to win the Route du Rhum in 1990, confirming her reputation as one of the best performers in a male-dominated sport. She made the solitary North Atlantic crossing in less than 10 days, beating a record set by fellow French sailor Bruno Peyron. Arthaud had another near-death experience in 2011 when she fell off her boat in the Mediterranean sea during a solo trip in late 2011. She was rescued after managing to call her mother on her mobile phone from the chilly waters of late Autumn near the island of Corsica. Camille Muffat, born 28/10/1989 French swimmer Camille Muffat, born in the French Riviera city of Nice, sprung to prominence internationally at the Beijing Olympics of 2008. She earned celebrity status in France in 2005 when, at the age of 15, she beat French Olympic champion and media darling Laure Manaudou in a 200 metres medley race. In the 2012 London Olympics, she won three medals, gold in the 400 metres freestyle, silver in the 200 metres freestyle and bronze in the 4x200 metres freestyle relay. Alexis Vastine, born 17/11/1986 French boxer Alexis Vastine, a light welterweight with pop- star looks, was hellbent on winning a gold medal in the next Olympics in Brazil after bitter disappointments in 2008 and 2012. He won bronze in the 2008 Beijing Olympics after a penalty-point decision that cost him victory in the closing seconds of a semi-final against Manuel Felix Diaz. Diaz went on the win the gold medal. Vastine, whose boxing dynasty family was struck by another tragedy when his sister died in a car crash in January, was eliminated in the quarter-finals of the 2012 London Olympics after another refereeing decision which he vehemently disputed. (Reporting by Brian Love, editing by Ed Osmond)