Tokyo (AFP)

The French foilists, vice-Olympic champions in Rio in 2016, this time won the gold medal against the Russians on Sunday in Chiba, concluding a successful week for tricolor fencing, with five medals, including two titles.

In the final, Enzo Lefort, 2019 world champion, and Erwann Le Pechoux, both silver medalists in Rio, as well as Julien Mertine easily dominated (45-28) the Russian twins Anton and Kirill Borodachev (21), framed by Timur Safin, who was part of the team crowned Olympic champion in 2016.

Without really trembling, despite a few more laborious stints, the blue trio, to which we must add Maxime Pauty, replacing for the final, took their revenge, winning the first men's foil title since Sydney in 2000.

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With five medals, including two titles, French fencing in Tokyo is doing better than in Rio-2016 (3 medals, including one title), London-2012 (zero), Beijing-2008 (4 including two titles), but less although in Athens-2004 (6 including 3 titles) and Sydney-2000 (6 including 1 title), and especially in Atlanta-1996 (7 including 2 titles).

To explain the team title of the foil players, and more generally the beautiful tricolor harvest, the veteran Erwann Le Pechoux highlights "our cohesion and our union (which) mean that we are mentally above the other teams".

"We are not necessarily the best four individually, on the other hand what makes our strength is our state of mind, our cohesion, we live together, we train together, we eat together, we compete and in training together ", insisted the one who played at 39 years his last competition.

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- "Little warning" -

With the surprise title at the épée of Romain Cannone, the bronze of Manon Brunet at the saber, the silver of the ladies of the foil and the saber and the gold to finish the foilists, the results are promising only three years before the Games. Paris.

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The biggest disappointment undoubtedly came from the sword, traditionally the strongest weapon in French fencing.

If Romain Cannone rose magnificently to the Olympic title, his teammates failed: first of all in individual, Yannick Borel and Alexandre Bardenet being released as soon as they entered the running, but especially in teams, which they did not have. finished the tournament in a fifth place unworthy of their rank of Olympic champions and reigning world champions.

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Certainly, "this is not what we expected, admits the director of the teams of France, Pierre Guichot. It is a small warning before Paris-2024. After, we must not go into the sinistrosis and throw everything no more: we have young people who are arriving and old people "ready to supervise them, even if in individuals, they have" disappointed ".

Pierre Guichot, on the other hand, says he is more worried because "in all weapons, many jumped very quickly individually, without having won a match": the saber Boladé Apithy, the swordsman Coraline Vitalis, Enzo Lefort, reigning world champion , released in the quarterfinals, or the foilist Ysaora Thibus, 2018 world vice-champion, eliminated in the 8th ... That's a lot!

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"Is it due to stress? To the preparation that we could have made better? We have to think about it but without panicking," concludes Guichot.

Tokyo confirmed that fencing was internationalizing and the competition was tougher, with resounding titles for Japan (men's team épée) and Hong Kong (Cheung Ka Long in foil), while others, until then preeminent, decline, such as Italy, the first country in the number of Olympic medals in the discipline (130) and which, in Tokyo, did not win a single title, but three silver medals and two bronze.

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