BOREL Yannick

Personal Information

Family Wife Annia, son Andre, daughters Anelia [2017] and Alyna [2022]

Occupation Athlete

Languages Creole, English, French

Higher education Physical Education - National Institute of Sport, Expertise and Performance [INSEP]: Paris, FRA

License number 05111988002

Club

Upcoming Events

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 Hugues Obry [national], FRA

Handedness Right

International Debut

Year 2009

Competing for France

General Interest

Nicknames Le Boss, Le Lion (offensivesportmag.fr, 30 Jan 2022)

Memorable sporting achievement Winning gold in individual epee at the 2018 World Championships in Wuxi, People's Republic of China. (Sport en France YouTube channel, 05 Jan 2022)

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 A broken bone in his foot kept him out of competition for two months in 2023. (lequipe.fr, 05 Jun 2023; Facebook page, 11 Mar 2023)

He needed 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 "The talent is already there, I just need to let the artist speak." (insep.fr, 23 Jul 2021)

Awards and honours The fencing hall of the Sporting Resources, Expertise and Performance Centre [CREPS] in Pointe-a-Pitre in Guadeloupe island, was named after him in 2023. (Region Guadeloupe YouTube channel, 24 Apr 2023)

He was named a Knight of the Legion of Honour in recognition of his gold medal at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. (lequipe.fr, 23 Dec 2016)

He was flag bearer for France at the opening ceremony of the 2013 World University Games in Kazan, Russian Federation. (sport-u.com, 26 Jun 2013)

Ambitions To compete at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. (eurosport.co.uk, 13 Apr 2020)

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
He was named a member of the International Fencing Federation [FIE] athletes' commission in 2017 and 2022. (Federation Francaise d'Escrime Facebook page, 27 Jul 2022; 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, 22 Jul 2022)

FILM WORK
In 2023 he worked as a fencing instructor on the French movie, 'The Three Musketeers: D'Artagnan'. "I tried to put to the actors at ease when handling the sword so they could separate the movement of their arms and legs and be able to perform all the movements needed." (rmcsport.bfmtv.com, 05 Apr 2023)