PIANFETTI Maxime

Personal Information

Residence Paris, FRA

Occupation Police Athlete

Languages French

Higher education Mathematics - Sorbonne University: Paris, FRA

License number 15031999005

Club

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Sport Specific Information

When and where did you begin this sport? He began the sport at age five at the Tarbaise Amicale Fencing Club in Tarbes, France. "I had tried a bit of football, tennis, badminton, volleyball and so on. In my city, Tarbes, it's known for being a fencing city, especially for the sabre, and one day my parents were talking with other parents in front of the school [about new sports to try] and I ended up trying it at the local club."

Why this sport? "I did a lot of sport growing up, my father was involved in kayak at national level, and he was also brought up in a similar way, doing a lot of sport. I also come from Tarbes, in the Pyrenees, where we are used to spending the weekends hiking in the mountains, so from a young age I was used to activities and sport, and it's always been very important for me."

Club / Team Amicale Tarbaise d'Escrime: France

Training Regime He has trained at the National Institute of Sport, Expertise and Performance [INSEP] in Paris, France, since 2018.

General Interest

Hobbies Relaxing, hiking, exercising. (Facebook profile, 24 Feb 2022)

Memorable sporting achievement Winning silver in individual sabre at the 2022 World Championships in Cairo, Egypt. (lefigaro.fr, 24 Jul 2023)

Injuries An ankle injury meant he missed several World Cup events in early 2022. (lefigaro.fr, 24 Jul 2023)

Sporting philosophy / motto "At the highest level, the technical and tactical capacities are pretty much the same for everyone. What makes the difference is the mental aspect. Technique is very important, but you also need courage, determination and confidence to make it work and win matches. It's an art this sport, to be able to adapt but at the same time impose your own gameplan. That's how I approach it, anyway, I want to impose my gameplan." (lefigaro.fr, 24 Jul 2023)

Ambitions To win a medal at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris and to compete at the 2028 Games in Los Angeles. (Facebook profile, 25 Apr 2023; police-nationale.interieur.gouv.fr, 26 Mar 2024)

Other information TURNING POINT IN 2022
He first joined France's national training hub, INSEP, in Paris in 2018. He said the first few years were difficult, until a turning point came in 2022. "In the beginning it was very difficult. I doubted myself a lot, I was wondering what type of athlete I wanted to be. Between 2018 and 2021, these were cold and hard years in terms of results. And then a new duo of coaches arrived after Tokyo [2020 Olympic Games] with Vincent Anstett and Pierre Mione. They managed to give me confidence and to raise my level in competition. [In 2022] the first key moment didn't happen in competition. It was an ankle injury in January that prevented me from competing at two World Cup events, before returning to fencing at the end of March. I took time for myself, to catch up with friends, and that gave me a more rounded view of my life and who I am as an athlete. It replenished me and I felt as soon as I returned that things would go well. This sensation of feeling capable of winning even when I wasn't in my best physical form helped me to believe." He said a World Cup match win against German fencer Matyas Szabo was a 'key moment', followed two months later by his first major senior international medal - an individual silver at the world championships in 2022. "I'm learning to handle pressure. My status has changed since that [world championship] medal, and I'm expected to do well. Now I have to look even harder at myself because it's not easy rising so quickly in the rankings. I'm sure I have the ability but I'm still learning to put everything into the right place." (lefigaro.fr, 24 Jul 2023)

OCCUPATION
He is employed as a reserve officer in France's Police Nationale, as part of a special contract for elite athletes that allows him to train and compete. "It takes perseverance, dedication and adaptation to what happens on the [fencing] piste, as well as respect for oneself and others. These are also values common to the police, which I joined in 2023 as a reservist officer." (police-nationale.interieur.gouv.fr, 26 Mar 2024)

FURTHER STUDIES
He has a studied for a master's degree in mathematics. He paused his studies in the lead up to the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris in order to focus on fencing. (lequipe.fr, 06 Dec 2022)