The bad luck continues for the French fencing team. After the injury to the left knee of the foilist Ysaora Thibus on Wednesday for her return after five months of absence, Yannick Borel must in turn withdraw from the European Championships played this week in Basel. The swordsman, 2018 world champion and selected to compete in the Olympic Games, suffered a hamstring injury in his right leg during training with his club Levallois-Perret and cannot compete in the individual event this Thursday. He is also out of the team competition on Saturday.
The 35-year-old Guadeloupean, contender for individual gold at the Grand Palais, must now return to Paris to undergo further medical examinations to determine the duration of his unavailability. For the moment, the management of the French team is not talking about calling into question its participation in the Olympics, but rather mentions a precaution forty days before the start of the Games. According to The Teamhis manager Gauthier Grumier was not informed of the injury before the athlete’s arrival in Switzerland.
“Bad news for me. After consultation with the federal medical staff, pain in my thigh forced me to be cautious. I will therefore not be able to defend my chances in this European Championship. It’s a real disappointment because I had prepared for this event, the challenge of which has always galvanized me and pushed me to give the best of myself. I’m going to take the time to heal in order to be ready for the big meeting next month in Paris. I wish the best to all my teammates on the France team,” the swordsman shared on Instagram.
There will therefore only be three French people participating in the individual event this Thursday in Basel: Olympic champion Romain Cannone, Luidgi Midelton and Paul Allègre. At the same time, the federation must replace Yannick Borel for Saturday’s event with the first replacement in the hierarchy set up for the Olympics. And ironically, it is Alexandre Bardonet, who drags the FFE before a conciliator from the national Olympic committee to contest his non-selection for the Olympics.
Hugues Obry excluded from the European Championships at the request of Cannone and Borel
The Northerner, who like Borel and Cannone has decided to train mainly away from Insep this season due to tensions with the staff, is due to arrive in Basel on Friday. “I don’t understand the criteria if it’s a sporting choice,” explained Alexandre Bardenet to Le Parisien ten days ago. I am third in the internal ranking, I have played in 14 of the last 15 World Cups, and I was on the team for the last World Cups. If there was a problem, it had to be said first. »
The double world team champion will return to the Blues in a difficult context. Before the start of the home stretch, Romain Cannone and Yannick Borel had protested against the return for the European Championships and the Olympics of their former manager Hugues Obry, who resigned at the end of February amid tensions with part of these athletes. The federation therefore decided to dismiss the fencing master, who is leaving for Saudi Arabia next season. Much to the dismay of Luidgi Midelton, who trained under him during the Olympiad.
