LES-SABLES-D'OLONNE, France (AP) — Anyone watching the celebrations at the end of Violette Dorange’s solo circumnavigation would have thought she won the Vendee Globe.
Tens of thousands of enthusiastic fans turned out at Les Sables d’Olonne on Sunday to welcome Dorange, who at 23 years old became the youngest ever finisher of the round-the-world non-stop race.
Dorange was 90 days at sea, almost one month longer than French compatriot Charlie Dalin, who set a new race record in less than 65 days.
But the celebrations that greeted Dorange's arrival at the French port on the Atlantic coast were so massive that there was no doubt about the popularity the young sailor has achieved during her odyssey.
“I am still in shock, stunned by the size of the crowd when I arrived,” she said.
Dorange's 25th-place finish earned her the front page of French sports daily L'Equipe, with the headline 'Violette Dorange, The People’s Choice Award.'
Dorange, who previously sailed across the English Channel and the Strait of Gibraltar in an Optimist dinghy, aged 15, became a social media sensation during her latest perilous journey.
According to Vendee Globe organizers, she had 50,000 followers on Instagram before the race. By Sunday that number had increased more than tenfold. She also has legions of fans on TikTok and Facebook, which is unusual in the world of sailing.
Dorange documented her journey with short videos that were handled by her communication team on shore. She competed in the Vendee Globe after buying Jean Le Cam’s boat, now called DeVenir.
“For three months, I was in my own bubble, without access to social media,” Dorange said. “I became aware of the enthusiasm thanks to the messages from my family and my team. It was incredible. I did not expect so much support.”
The Vendee Globe takes sailors around South Africa’s Cape of Good Hope, Australia's Cape Leeuwin and South America’s Cape Horn, over some 24,000 nautical miles (about 44,500 kilometers).
Dorange, who honed her skills in the Figaro class, said she will take time to rest and promised to return to the race with loftier ambitions.
“The adventure side is ticked off, but the top performance is still to be achieved,” she said. "There is still a lot of work to do but it’s exciting. A new adventure begins, and I trust in the future.”
AP sailing: https://apnews.com/hub/sailing
FILE - Yachts take part at the start of the Vendee Globe Challenge round-the-world solo sailing race at Les Sables D'Olonne, western France, Nov. 7, 2004. (AP Photo/Franck Prevel, File)
ALEPPO, Syria (AP) — First responders on Sunday entered a contested neighborhood in Syria’ s northern city of Aleppo after days of deadly clashes between government forces and Kurdish-led forces. Syrian state media said the military was deployed in large numbers.
The clashes broke out Tuesday in the predominantly Kurdish neighborhoods of Sheikh Maqsoud, Achrafieh and Bani Zaid after the government and the Syrian Democratic Forces, the main Kurdish-led force in the country, failed to make progress on how to merge the SDF into the national army. Security forces captured Achrafieh and Bani Zaid.
The fighting between the two sides was the most intense since the fall of then-President Bashar Assad to insurgents in December 2024. At least 23 people were killed in five days of clashes and more than 140,000 were displaced amid shelling and drone strikes.
The U.S.-backed SDF, which have played a key role in combating the Islamic State group in large swaths of eastern Syria, are the largest force yet to be absorbed into Syria's national army. Some of the factions that make up the army, however, were previously Turkish-backed insurgent groups that have a long history of clashing with Kurdish forces.
The Kurdish fighters have now evacuated from the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood to northeastern Syria, which is under the control of the SDF. However, they said in a statement they will continue to fight now that the wounded and civilians have been evacuated, in what they called a “partial ceasefire.”
The neighborhood appeared calm Sunday. The United Nations said it was trying to dispatch more convoys to the neighborhoods with food, fuel, blankets and other urgent supplies.
Government security forces brought journalists to tour the devastated area, showing them the damaged Khalid al-Fajer Hospital and a military position belonging to the SDF’s security forces that government forces had targeted.
The SDF statement accused the government of targeting the hospital “dozens of times” before patients were evacuated. Damascus accused the Kurdish-led group of using the hospital and other civilian facilities as military positions.
On one street, Syrian Red Crescent first responders spoke to a resident surrounded by charred cars and badly damaged residential buildings.
Some residents told The Associated Press that SDF forces did not allow their cars through checkpoints to leave.
“We lived a night of horror. I still cannot believe that I am right here standing on my own two feet,” said Ahmad Shaikho. “So far the situation has been calm. There hasn’t been any gunfire.”
Syrian Civil Defense first responders have been disarming improvised mines that they say were left by the Kurdish forces as booby traps.
Residents who fled are not being allowed back into the neighborhood until all the mines are cleared. Some were reminded of the displacement during Syria’s long civil war.
“I want to go back to my home, I beg you,” said Hoda Alnasiri.
Associated Press journalist Kareem Chehayeb in Beirut contributed to this report.
Sandbag barriers used as fighting positions by Kurdish fighters, left inside a destroyed mosque in the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood, where clashes between government forces and Kurdish fighters have been taking place in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)
Burned vehicles at one of the Kurdish fighters positions at the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood, where clashes between government forces and Kurdish fighters have been taking place in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)
People flee the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood, where clashes between government forces and Kurdish fighters have been taking place in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)
A Syrian military police convoy enters the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood, where clashes between government forces and Kurdish fighters have been taking place in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)
Burned vehicles and ammunitions left at one of the Kurdish fighters positions at the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood, where clashes between government forces and Kurdish fighters have been taking place in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)
