World fencing champions Tuesday in Cairo, epee fencer Romain Cannone and foil fencer Ysaora Thibus both espoused opposite trajectories before winning gold in the Egyptian capital.
Cannone: from the USA to the Blues
Crowned Olympic fencing champion in Tokyo, Romain Cannone, 25, cultivated the art of fencing by immersing himself in foreign cultures, from Brazil to the United States, before joining INSEP in 2018, the incubator of French sport.
“
If I had to describe myself in a few words, it would be these.
I am someone who has lived in three different countries, mainly in the United States where I was in college and high school
, ”explained the Olympic champion.
Romain Cannone started fencing with a Ukrainian mentor, on the other side of the Atlantic when he was still in the United States.
And he almost escaped France, since when he was in the United States, he had asked for naturalization which had been refused to him at the time.
Integrated into the senior French teams in 2019, he became a starter for the European Individual and Team Championships where he only competes in the individual at the 2019 Worlds in Budapest, giving way to Daniel Jérent.
A fencer he replaced at the Tokyo Olympics due to a positive doping test for dorzolamide, a diuretic and masking agent, at the end of November 2020, which forced the French Federation to remove Jérent from the list.
Five weeks later, Cannone becomes the first epee fencer since Eric Srecki in 1992 in Barcelona, to become an individual Olympic champion.
Thibus, reconstruction
For Ysaora Thibus, 31, this first title of world champion resonates singularly with the disillusion experienced a year ago in Tokyo, where she lost in the second round of the individual tournament.
Psychologically affected, the Guadeloupean told AFP that she only resumed training four months after the competition.
“
I really didn't want to hear about fencing anymore.
I was psychologically exhausted after these Games.
All the obstacles to being able to train in the last few months have created a kind of disgust
, ”she confessed.
Continental bronze medalist in 2013, winner of a world cup in 2015, and a constant progression in the world hierarchy: the course of Ysaora Thibus had until then followed a straight trajectory since her debut among seniors.
His silver medal at the Worlds in China, in the summer of 2018, had even validated his choice to go into exile in the United States with his companion Race Imboden, former world No. 2 and winner of 7 World Cups.
“
It's a real challenge, it's a cultural shock, you move away from your original structure, from your friends and relatives.
It's hard to adapt, these are things that take time.
There is also the pressure of people who expect us to succeed immediately
, ”she said in 2019.
In the winter of 2018, she separated from her Ukrainian coach Serguei Golubitski to secure the services of the Italian Stefano Cerioni, in charge of Russian foil between 2012 and 2016. The failure of Tokyo prompted Thibus to put himself in search of a new fencing master, Giulio Tomassini, another illustrious Italian coach, with a view to Paris-2024.
A fruitful collaboration, as evidenced by this title of world champion in Cairo, and promising two years before the Paris Games, where Thibus intends to win her first Olympic title at 33 years old.