Fencer Alexandre Bardenet, not selected in the men’s epee selection for the Olympic Games unveiled at the end of May, contacted the conference of conciliators of the French Olympic Committee (CNOSF) on Thursday to contest his absence, told AFP on Friday his lawyer, confirming information from the newspaper The Team.
The appeal, filed Thursday afternoon, challenges the form and substance of the selection, decided by the Olympic Selection Advisory Commission (CCSO) of the weapon. “There is a procedural defect as well as a selection criterion applied for the choice of a single athlete, for the others, this is not followed,” summarizes Me Joan Roche. The conference referred to will only issue an opinion to which the Federation may object. Alexandre Bardenet would then have the possibility of filing an appeal before the administrative court.
Third French swordsman in the internal selective ranking as well as in the world ranking, Alexandre Bardenet (34 years old) was excluded from the three starters for the individual Olympic tournament in favor of Luidgi Midelton (25 years old). “A decision of this type cannot be intended to sanction an athlete,” deplores Me Roche, referring to the months of conflict between the French Federation and the trio of rebels that Bardenet formed with Romain Cannone and Yannick Borel.
In conflict with former general manager Hugues Obry
“Yannick Borel was untouchable given the criteria (the first in the internal ranking was guaranteed to be at the Games), Romain Cannone was untouchable as reigning Olympic champion,” continues Me Roche. In opposition to the former general manager of the weapon Hugues Obry, the three French shooters left Insep in the fall before eventually obtaining the replacement of Obry, who resigned in February but still supervises the other French shooters .
“The choice was clear and made unanimously concerning the three holders,” Fabrice Jeannet, triple Olympic medalist and member of the weapons commission, explained to AFP. His presence and his vote during the CCSO are one of the “legality defects” raised by Alexandre Bardenet’s lawyer, who considers that Fabrice Jeannet does not correspond to the role of “weapon referent” provided for in the regulation.
“Luidgi Midelton won a World Cup stage, which was among the events in the selective classification,” Fabrice Jeannet explained to AFP, referring to the Guadeloupean’s victory in Vancouver in December.
