LE PECHOUX Erwann

Personal Information

Family Wife Ines Boubakri, son Noham

Residence Paris, FRA

Occupation Coach, Sports Teacher

Languages French

Higher education Communications - National Institute for Sport, Expertise and Performance [INSEP]: Paris, FRA

License number 13011982001

Club

Upcoming Events

Sport Specific Information

When and where did you begin this sport? He took up the sport at age seven at the Club de Gardanne in France.

Why this sport? "I tried football, horse riding, judo, karate, but none of those sports stuck with me. [With fencing] I was taken by the ambience. I finished second-last in my first competition but I got a medal for participating. Six months later, I won the departmental championship. I've always used foil and it works well for me. The foil is more subtle than epee and faster than sabre. I was lucky because it's the discipline I prefer."

Handedness Left

General Interest

Nicknames Petit Homme [Little Man]. (NOC, 21 Jul 2012)

Memorable sporting achievement Winning gold in team foil at the 2005 World Championships in Leipzig, Germany. (sans-filtre.fr, 2018)

Injuries He suffered a tendon injury to his left wrist in late 2018 that doctors initially believed would require surgery and a six-month rehabilitation period. With daily physiotherapy he was able to avoid surgery and said he was feeling almost no pain by January 2019. (FFE YouTube channel, 13 Jan 2019; lequipe.fr, 12 Jan 2019)

A left shoulder injury he sustained at the end of 2009 stopped him training until January 2010. (lequipe.fr, 06 Nov 2010)

Sporting philosophy / motto "Have fun with the sport and consider it a game." (NOC Media Guide, 2016)

Famous relatives His wife Ines Boubakri has represented Tunisia in fencing. She was the first female African fencer to win an Olympic medal, claiming bronze in individual foil at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. (letelegramme.fr, 13 Aug 2016; SportsDeskOnline, 26 Jun 2015; pianetascherma.com, 02 Aug 2014)

Other information RETIREMENT
He announced his retirement from the sport after competing at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. He has since taken up a coaching role with the Japanese national fencing team. "I hope to transfer what I have learnt to a new generation, without being pretentious but trying to contribute." (lequipe.fr, 15 Jan 2022; France 3 Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur YouTube channel, 18 Oct 2021; Instagram profile, 28 Sep 2021)

OLYMPIC INJURY SCARE
He initially feared that the tendon injury he sustained to his left wrist in late 2018 might signal the end his career. "Doctors spoke about surgery on my left wrist, with six months out of action. Because of my age, such a big operation just two years before the [2020] Olympics would have meant the end of my career. What happened was the attachment of a tendon was slipping and moving, causing inflammation. But with the medical staff we took a gamble on physiotherapy instead of surgery. One hour of rehabilitation each day, every day. The result is that now [January 2019] I feel almost no pain, it's getting less and less every day. The tendon is moving around less and with tape we can secure and maintain it and I can fence normally." (FFE YouTube channel, 13 Jan 2019; lequipe.fr, 12 Jan 2019)

OLYMPIC COUPLE
In 2014 he married Tunisian fencer Ines Boubakri, who is also an Olympic medallist. The pair met at a fencing competition. "She is very important to me, sometimes she can find the right words that coaches cannot. It is important that she talks to me. She helps me on tactics but mainly she gives me psychological support. For me personally, when she won an Olympic medal [bronze at the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro], it was the most beautiful moment I have ever experienced in sport." (FIE YouTube channel, 13 Mar 2017; olympicchannel.com, 2017; rfi.fr, 13 Aug 2016)

OTHER ROLES
He is member of the high performance athletes' commission at the French Fencing Federation. (Federation Francaise d'Escrime, 17 Dec 2020)