The harvest continues for Manon Apithy-Brunet. The licensee of Orleans Fencing Circledouble Olympic champion in Tokyo and elected fencer of the year 2021, added this Sunday March 20 a new line to his listwith the gold medal won at the Saber World Cup in Istanbul. A title that allows him to become the new world number one of his discipline. The 26-year-old saber confided in France Blue Orleans this Tuesday. Interview.
France Bleu Orléans: We can say that this is a perfect weekend for you…
Manon Apithy-Brunet: Yes, I had been working hard for a few weeks and it was starting to be a little hard. It was the last competition before a little rest, I wanted to fight and I hoped that everything goes well. And it went pretty well!
FBO: You benefit in particular from the absence of the Russian sabers, Olympic champions in title excluded because of the geopolitical context. It means you were favorite in Istanbul and seeded number 1, so the pressure was on your shoulders. Was it difficult to manage?
MAB: Since the beginning of the year, the Russian who is in front of me had not yet returned to competition, she was taking a break and I think she would soon be back. But hey there is the context which prevents him from coming back so I have had this number one spot since the beginning of the year. It’s not a pressure, but inevitably I tell myself that I have to do what I did before and be on the podium all the time. I work to do that and when it’s not working too well I say to myself ‘damn, I’m not up to them yet’.
FBO: Compared to the bronze of the Olympic Games last summer in individual, the flavor of this victory there in Istanbul is more or less strong?
MAB: It’s less strong, yes, but it’s especially good for me morally, because since the Olympics, I’ve changed structure, coach and way of training, I’ve turned everything upside down . I have a lot of doubts, I lose a little confidence in myself because I miss and I make a lot of changes. So this victory did me a lot of good, because the last days before going there, I was really not in great shape morally. This gold medal makes me feel good and I can go on vacation a little more relaxed and not ask myself 50,000 questions about what’s next.
FBO: You are now world number one in your discipline. Does that place matter to you, or is it anecdotal?
MAB: No, I think all athletes want to be one day in their life. I’m very happy to be there now, the Russians, including the best, are missing. Also missing is the Ukrainian, who was world number two after the Games and was world number one for two years. I know it and we are not going to say that it spoils the pleasure of being number one because they are not there… I take it, I am happy but above all I want to stay in this place. When they come back, I will continue to train for this, to remain the best. They know I’m very strong, but now it’s my turn to show them that I’m the best.
FBO: The little disappointment of the weekend was the team event where you finished seventh. It’s a small hitch on an almost perfect weekend, if we sum up…
MAB: No, we can’t sum it up like that. We tried a team with two very young girls. Basically, at the Games I was the youngest on the team and there I had to take the place of leader. There have been a lot of changes since the beginning of the year and there were a lot of absentees. The coaches have therefore decided to introduce two very young girls, because they are part of the future and because they have already had very good results, to introduce them a little into this senior world, so that they can discover a little how it worked, the pressure it could generate, the team rhythm of the opponents, because in a year we start the Olympic qualification, so if we test them at that time, it will be much more pressure so it It’s better that they find out a little before. I would have preferred to win of course and I think it was possible, but the girls had to discover this rhythm a bit.
FBO: What is the rest of your season now? First, is there a vacation?
MAB: That’s right, two weeks of vacation! full of holidays, not spokesperson. Then we have a grand prix in a month in Seoul, but we don’t know yet if it will be maintained because of the Covid. We would have another after in Italy, then the World Cup in Tunis, before the European championships in June and the world championships in July.