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BERDER Cecilia
NOC France   
GenderWomen
Born 13 Dec 1989 in Morlaix, FRA
Height1.74 m
Human Interest
General Interest
Other information MEDITATION
She has practised meditation since 2015, and credits it with helping to improve the consistency of her results. "In 2015, I had just turned 25. I loved my sport and my results were good, but very inconsistent. I could make it to the final one weekend and lose miserably in the first round the following week. It was very hard to take, my morale was on a roller coaster ride. I felt that I had to find an inner calm. I'm pretty hyperactive, I wanted to be in the fight all the time. Sitting on a chair, doing nothing, seemed impossible to me. But I wanted to grow up, and not just for fencing. I wanted to be able to do things at my own pace, maybe slower, maybe faster, but at least be in control of my time and my emotions. I knew it wasn't by holding a sword that I would get there. It had to happen inside. It was at this time that my mental trainer made me aware of meditation. By focusing on my breathing and consciously performing an action as mundane and harmless as getting air into my body, I felt like I was taking the reins back." (lemonde.fr, 07 Jul 2019)

EARLY DAYS
When she started fencing at age seven, she was the only girl in her club. "For me, it wasn't weird to be the only girl - I didn't even think about it. I had one arm, two legs, a mask and a sword like them. It is true that the boys looked at me, made fun of me a little. I did not understand why. In fact, it's because I was the only girl. Today, I compete in a team, a female team, but I never thought in terms of the boy/girl differences, maybe because I grew up with two brothers. Today, compared to 20 years ago, there are as many women as men in fencing. It is a mixed sport, we train mixed in clubs. Men can move faster, their speed of execution is different to women. This is also why I love crossing swords with them because they give us their own speed, tactics and technique." (ablock.fr, 11 Dec 2020)

OCCUPATION
She works as a journalist for Franceinfo, a television, radio and online news service in France. In 2019 she worked on a series of features about French athletes hoping to compete at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. "As fencers we are more or less forced to have a job because it's not really a professional sport, even though we train like professionals. I specialise in journalism, in radio, because I like telling stories. In my role each week I talk about sport, with a focus on Olympic athletes. I work about 15 hours per week and I'm lucky because I can do it on a train, a plane, in between training sessions or sitting on my hotel bed. All I need is paper and a pen to work." (lesportaufeminin.fr, 18 Mar 2020; Twitter profile, 14 Apr 2021; francetvinfo.fr, 05 May 2019; FranceTV YouTube channel, 26 Mar 2019; Instagram profile, 28 Jan 2019)

FAMILY
Her parents Eric and Patricia run a restaurant and bar in Quimper, France. The bar is called 'The Sabre' in honour of their daughter. (ouest-france.fr, 24 May 2019)
Nicknames Cec (Facebook profile, 09 Jun 2015)
Memorable sporting achievement Winning silver in the team sabre event at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. (actu.fr, 20 Sep 2021)
Ambitions To compete at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. (ouest-france.fr, 01 Dec 2021)
Sport Specific Information
Training Regime She trains at the National Institute for Sport, Expertise and Performance [INSEP] in Paris, France. "Physically, [to be an elite fencer], there is a lot of ground support work to be done, so you have to have very light feet, a bit like a sprinter. We also do a lot of weight training to be explosive, and I add yoga and meditation, in addition to working with my mental trainer."
General Interest
Hobbies Qi gong, yoga, reading, meditation. (francetvinfo.fr, 18 Mar 2020)
Hero / Idol French fencer Brice Guyart. (ablock.fr, 11 Dec 2020)
Sporting philosophy / motto "Fencing is a total sport that works from the feet to the brain. All the muscles in the body are pumping. But, at the top level, the best muscle to work on is your mind, because this is what's going to make the difference. Technically and tactically, everyone is more or less equal at elite level - everyone is capable of winning a competition. But being able to make the right choices at the right time - that's another thing. In this sport, the real difference is in the head. The best asset of a fencer is to be convinced of your choices and to have confidence in what your actions will achieve." ((ablock.fr, 11 Dec 2020; lemonde.fr, 07 Jul 2019)
Awards and honours In 2021 she was named Knight of the National Order of Merit by the French government. (legifrance.gouv.fr, 08 Sep 2021)
Further Personal Information
Family Partner Philippe Degeilh
Sport Specific Information
Club / Team Cercle d'Escrime Orleanais [CEO]: France
Further Personal Information
Higher education Journalism - School of Journalism [ESJ] Paris: France
General Interest
Injuries In March 2011 she suffered from compartment syndrome in her right forearm. (escrime-ffe.fr, 24 Mar 2011)
Sport Specific Information
Why this sport? Her mother enrolled her in several sports clubs so that she could burn off excess energy. Climbing was her first passion, but after her local club became fully booked, her mother encouraged her to try fencing. "My mother nicknamed me 'the goat' when I was a child, because I loved climbing on everything. I wanted to go climbing, but there was no more room in the club. It was my mother who then told me about fencing - she had seen it on TV. I started with the sabre - the most explosive weapon. I have always had a fighting spirit and I was, in addition, with the boys, so it allowed me to be immediately challenged, and I had a great time."
Handedness Right
When and where did you begin this sport? She began fencing at age seven at the Fencing Club Quimper Cornouaille [EQC] in France. She was the only female member of the club at the time, which she believes helped her develop faster in her youth. "I was never treated as a girl. We fought as equals, which pushed me higher."
Further Personal Information
Occupation Athlete, Journalist, Public Speaker
Languages French

Major Results
Year Rank Event Venue
Olympic Games
2020 2 Team Sabre Tokyo, Japan
2016 Quarterfinal Individual Sabre Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
2016 Final 7-8 Team Sabre Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
World Championships
2019 2 Team Sabre Budapest, Hungary
2019 Quarterfinal Individual Sabre Budapest, Hungary
2018 1 Team Sabre Wuxi, China
2018 Quarterfinal Individual Sabre Wuxi, China
2017 3 Team Sabre Leipzig, Germany
2017 3 Individual Sabre Leipzig, Germany
2015 2 Individual Sabre Moscow, Russia
2014 2 Team Sabre Kazan, Russia
2010 3 Team Sabre Paris, France
2009 2 Team Sabre Antalya, Turkey
European Championships
2023 (Team) 1 Team Sabre Kraków, Poland
2019 3 Team Sabre Düsseldorf, Germany
2018 2 Individual Sabre Novi Sad, Serbia
2018 3 Team Sabre Novi Sad, Serbia
2017 3 Team Sabre Tbilisi, Georgia
2017 Quarterfinal Individual Sabre Tbilisi, Georgia
2013 5 Team Sabre Zagreb, Croatia
2013 7 Individual Sabre Zagreb, Croatia
2010 6 Team Sabre Leipzig, Germany
2009 5 Team Sabre Plovdiv, Bulgaria
2008 3 Team Sabre Kiev, Ukraine