Background
Alban Préaubert was born on 20 September 1985 in Grenoble, France. His father, who hoped to have his son ski, brought him to an ice rink to improve his balance.
Alban Préaubert was born on 20 September 1985 in Grenoble, France. His father, who hoped to have his son ski, brought him to an ice rink to improve his balance.
The younger Préaubert was immediately attracted to skating. He later moved to work with coach Annick Dumont. Préaubert had some success as a junior skater, winning the French junior national title and a medal on the junior Grand Prix circuit.
He skated at both junior and senior events in 2004-2005 before moving on to the senior ranks.
Préaubert had a successful season in his first full year as a senior, with a podium finish at the 2006 French nationals, a 6th place showing at his first Europeans, and an 8th place in his World Championships debut. He again finished sixth at the European Championships, but dropped out of the top ten at Worlds.
In 2007-2008, Préaubert was again assigned to Skate America and the Trophée Eric Bompard. A fifth-place finish at Skate America dropped him out of contention for the Grand Prix final.
He was tenth at the European Championships and was forced to withdraw from Worlds due to a back injury.
Préaubert began the 2008-2009 season by defeating his countryman Brian Joubert at the French Masters and winning his third Trophée Eric Bompard medal, a bronze. He finished third at French Nationals and was selected to go to Europeans, where he finished in fifth place, but was only third among the French skaters. As a result, Préaubert was not chosen to compete at the World Championships.
In the 2009-2010 season, Préaubert again medalled on the Grand Prix circuit, winning bronze at Skate Canada.
He again finished third at French nationals. The French men were competing for only two spots at the Olympics, and Préaubert, along with runner-up Yannick Ponsero, were selected for the European Championships only.
There, Préaubert came in 7th. In March 2010, he participated in a French federation test skate to determine the second entry for the World Championships.
Brian Joubert was eventually chosen.
lieutenant was his final competitive season. Préaubert continued his studies during his skating career, focusing on economy and management. He graduated with an Master of Business Administration from European Society of Clinical Pharmacy Europe in May 2010.
He has stated that he may be involved in sports management in the future.
As of 2011, he works for an asset management company in Paris.
He also plays tennis, basketball (a member of local league team), and has a red belt in judo.