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| BOREL Yannick |
| NOC |
France
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| Gender | Men |
| Born |
05 Nov 1988
in Pointe-à-Pitre, GLP
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Further Personal Information |
| Family |
Wife Annia, son Andre, daughter Anelia [2017] |
| Residence |
Paris, FRA |
| Occupation |
Athlete, Customs Officer |
| Languages |
Creole, French |
| Higher education |
Physical Education - National Institute of Sport, Expertise and Performance [INSEP]: Paris, FRA |
Sport Specific Information |
| When and where did you begin this sport? |
He took up the sport in 1998 in Point-a-Pitre, Guadeloupe. |
| Why this sport? |
He developed an interest in fencing after a demonstration at his school, and was also inspired by Zorro. "I wanted to do karate but there was no competition available so I decided to try fencing. I chose epee because it's more expressive than foil, where the referee is too present." |
| Club / Team |
Levallois SC: France |
| Name of coach |
Sebastien Barrois [national], FRA |
| Handedness |
Right |
International Debut |
| Year |
2009 |
| Competing for |
France |
| Tournament |
World Cup |
| Location |
Tallinn, EST |
General Interest |
| Nicknames |
Zlatan ["When I came to France we played a lot of football-tennis as well as football, and I would take things pretty seriously. As soon as I got the ball I always attacked, even when I wasn't really in a position to do so. So they started calling me 'Zlatan'."] (Facebook page, 05 Jun 2019; YouTube channel, 02 Feb 2019) |
| Hobbies |
Playing video games, going to the cinema, fishing. (Facebook page, 14 May 2018) |
| Memorable sporting achievement |
Winning gold in team epee at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, claiming three consecutive individual European titles from 2016 to 2018, and securing an individual world title in 2018. (lemonde.fr, 23 Jun 2019; fie.org, 14 Aug 2016) |
| Most influential person in career |
French fencer Ulrich Robeiri. (Athlete, 03 Jul 2012) |
| Hero / Idol |
French fencers Laura Flessel-Colovic, Fabrice Jeannet and Jerome Jeannet. (100-pour-cent-antilles.com, 05 Jan 2018; Athlete, 03 Jul 2012) |
| Injuries |
He required surgery in August 2018 after injuring his right wrist. He required six months of rehabilitation, and returned to competition in January 2019. (lequipe.fr, 28 Jan 2019; escrime-ffe.fr, 28 Jan 2019) |
| Sporting philosophy / motto |
"I've never really been afraid of other fencers, but I no longer tell myself that others are stronger than me. I tell myself that I am at their level, and that in any match anything can happen. In that respect, I'm not afraid of anyone, not even the Olympic, world or European champion." (sports.fr, 16 Mar 2012) |
| Awards and honours |
He was named a Knight of the Legion of Honour by the French president in 2016 following his gold medal at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. (lequipe.fr, 23 Dec 2016)
He was France's flag bearer at the opening ceremony of the 2013 World University Games in Kazan, Russian Federation. (sport-u.com, 26 Jun 2013) |
| Ambitions |
To win an individual Olympic gold medal. (lemonde.fr, 23 Jul 2018) |
| Other information |
FROM GUADELOUPE TO FRANCE
He was born and raised in Guadeloupe, a French overseas region in the Caribbean. At age 15 he was invited by the then France national coach, Jerome Roussat, to join the national junior training centre in Reims, France. However, his parents refused the invitation and he had to wait until he had finished his high school studies in 2007 before he could leave Guadeloupe for France. In 2019 he launched the Yannick Borel Challenge, a youth fencing tournament in Pointe-a-Pitre, Guadeloupe. The male and female winner of the tournament each receive the opportunity to travel to Paris to take part in training with Borel. (Facebook page, 17 Apr 2019; 100-pour-cent-antilles.com, 05 Jan 2018)
OTHER ACTIVITIES
In August 2017 he became a member of the International Fencing Federation [FIE] Athletes' Commission. (fie.org, 04 Aug 2017)
OCCUPATION
He works for French customs [douanes] under a special contract for elite athletes that allows him to train and compete internationally. (Twitter profile, 29 May 2019) |
| Olympic Games |
| 2016 |
1 |
Team Epee |
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil |
| 2016 |
Quarterfinal |
Individual Epee |
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil |
| 2012 |
Quarterfinal |
Individual Epee |
London, England |
| World Championships |
| 2018 |
1 |
Individual Epee |
Wuxi, China |
| 2018 |
4 |
Team Epee |
Wuxi, China |
| 2017 |
1 |
Team Epee |
Leipzig, Germany |
| 2012 |
2 |
Team Epee |
Kiev, Ukraine |
| 2011 |
1 |
Team Epee |
Catania, Italy |
| European Championships |
| 2018 |
1 |
Individual Epee |
Novi Sad, Serbia |
| 2018 |
2 |
Team Epee |
Novi Sad, Serbia |
| 2017 |
1 |
Individual Epee |
Tbilisi, Georgia |
| 2017 |
Final 5-6 |
Team Epee |
Tbilisi, Georgia |
| 2016 |
1 |
Individual Epee |
Torun, Poland |
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