He first came to talk about his withdrawal from the European Fencing Championships, recorded in the evening the day before his individual event on Thursday in Basel. Then, Yannick Borel was launched in the mixed zone, in one of the vast corridors of the Halle Saint-Jacques, on the political situation in France and on these upcoming legislative elections on June 30 and July 7. An electoral deadline where the 35-year-old swordsman, selected to compete in the Paris Olympic Games, fears that France will lean towards the National Rally, the clear winner of the European election at the beginning of June.
“As Cécilia (Berder, a saber of the French fencing team who raised the possibility of having a Prime Minister from the ranks of the far-right party) said, it’s scary. It’s scary to imagine the RN in power. The extremes in general, as Kylian Mbappé said, people who divide, it’s scary to have them in power. We must mobilize, everyone must go and vote. »
“There was a petition from athletes (signed in particular by Yannick Noah, Marie-José Pérec or another French fencer, Ysaora Thibus). I agree with them in that sense,” continues the Olympic team gold medalist at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
“I’m not teaching anyone a lesson”
Does he see himself, in his capacity as a high-level athlete, invested with a mission on the subject? “People ask me for my personal opinion, I don’t tell anyone what to do,” retorts Yannick Borel. I have my experience, my values, it’s my position. I’m not teaching anyone a lesson, everyone does what they want, that’s clear and clear. Voting remains something private, everyone does it in their soul and conscience. It is a right that we acquired through struggle, everyone uses it as they wish. »
“I don’t pose as a lesson giver, everyone does what they want in their soul and conscience,” concludes the Guadeloupean, forced to also give up the team event of the European Championships in Switzerland and return to France undergo medical examinations to assess the severity of his muscle injury to his right hamstring.
As mentioned by Yannick Borel, two other members of the French fencing team took positions last week on the legislative elections and the National Rally.
“When you’ve made a little history…”
“There is a real form of sadness. We talk about it among ourselves during training. I try to push them to make a proxy because during the first round of the legislative elections, we are in training so we have to organize ourselves. A far-right Prime Minister for the Olympic (opening) ceremony? It makes my blood run cold,” said Cécilia Berder. The 34-year-old athlete has since been the victim of a cyberbullying campaign on social media.
“We live in a completely crazy world,” said another swordsman, Boladé Apithy. When you’ve done a little history, you know where the extreme right comes from, you know how it ends. Having these ideas in 2024… We, as athletes, when we find ourselves on a field, there are no more countries, colors, religions. We do not care ! »
