Auriane Mallo-Breton, a silver swordswoman – Libération

2024-07-27 20:19:23

The 30-year-old Lyonnaise ended a season that saw him rise to 6th place in the world, with an Olympic silver medal won Saturday July 27. The fourth of the French delegation.

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There is no hope for a French medal on Saturday July 27 at the Grand Palais. And it is not necessary that Auriane Mallo-Breton has the silver medal, won after her defeat in the final against the world No. 1, Hong Kong’s Man Wai Vivian Kong. The other two tricolors are in the running, Marie-Florence Candassamy, reigning world champion, No. 2 and her preparation is hampered by the long Covid, and Coraline Vitalis, No. 14, has folded in the eighth of the final.

In the end, both shooters received a yellow card for lack of commitment, touching their blades in the first minute. Then the Frenchwoman scored the first four touchdowns. 4-0 at the first break after 3 minutes, the main advantage is this special weapon that is the sword, where experience and cunning weigh heavily. Now Auriane Mallo-Breton cooks Hong Kong slowly to take a 7-1 lead. But world No. 1 returns to the match. And it was only 3 touchdowns after the last 3 minutes (9-6).

Drawing spectators

A tense last round in which Hong Kong scored the first touchdown. And finish up picking up the score. 10-10 then 11-11 after the double touch. Then 12-12 after two shooters, as if softened by the challenge, took a touch of punishment for their lack of enthusiasm. Tied at the end of 9 minutes, Mallo-Breton, who had a match in hand, found himself caught in the scene of sudden death. Let your money come in after 36 seconds. Man Wai Vivian Kong, who dominated the women’s competition for two years but had until then to be satisfied with two world bronzes, has finally received recognition. No French woman has won Olympic gold since Laura Flessel in 1996, when women’s hurling was introduced.

Auriane Mallo-Breton, 30, began to stir the hearts of the spectators at the Grand Palais from his first attack of the day, during which he made a double deficit which could have become abysmal when he followed 0-5 then 10 -13 with a few minutes to gone, before suffering a sudden death. She then beat American Anne Cebula in the round of 16 (15-13) then Ukrainian Vlada Kharkova (15-10) in the quarterfinals. Then she managed her semi-final perfectly to escape in the last third and win 15-9 against Hungarian Eszter Muhari (9th in the world, and bronze medalist) in a crazy atmosphere which surprised the fighters. It would almost be unfair to them if no Frenchman came to the end to take care of them on fire until the end of this first day of practice.

If not the best French sister, the Lyonnaise is undoubtedly the best. He finished the season with a bang with a first World Cup victory in Cali then a silver medal at the European Championships in Basel last month. The results raised the left-hander to 6th place in the world, the best position of his career. Annoyed by the lights under the helmet during his first attack, he took out of his suitcase a large piece of adhesive tape which stuck to the top of his mask for the rest of the day. Until we really hit the medal.