The only French swordsmen on the team podiums in Bern

The four team events contested on Sunday for the resumption of the Fencing World Cup did not smile too much on the French teams. Only men’s epee was able to secure a podium in Bern, Switzerland. Without Yannick Borel, his silver medalist in the individual event at the Paris Olympics, nor Romain Cannone, the team coached by Gauthier Grumier placed third. After its defeat in the semi-final against Hungary, the quartet led by the 2024 European champion, Luidgi Midelton, with Nelson Lopez Pourtier, Gaetan Billa and Paul Allègre, made up for it against Italy (39-29) to win a bronze medal. The women’s swordsmen, team silver medalists at the Games, remained far from the standards of the Grand Palais. Certainly deprived of Auriane Mallo, Marie-Florence Candassamy and Coraline Vitalis, the three holders of the Olympic Games, they lost in the quarters against the United States (23-35) to finish sixth, in the United Arab Emirates. The two sabers, entered in Oran, Algeria, placed fifth. The women played without Olympic champion Manon Apithy-Brunet and Sara Balzer, her runner-up. The men, bronze medalists at Paris 2024 in the exercise, presented the team composition that made them shine last summer. But Sébastien Patrice, who won the individual event on Saturday, ultimately did not shoot, due to knee pain which forced him to stay on the bench, and his brother, Jean-Philippe, and Maxime Pianfetti, the two survivors of the quartet, were surprised in the quarter by Italy (39-45).