Cécilia Berder (born 13 December 1989) is a French right-handed sabre fencer, 2018 team world champion, two-time Olympian, and 2021 team Olympic silver medalist.
Career Berder was born in 1989 in Morlaix, and grew up in the nearby city of Quimper. A very energetic child, she was pushed by her parents toward sport. Her first choice was rock climbing, but the class was full, so she opted for fencing at Escrime Quimper Cornouaille.
She first tried foil, the traditional teaching weapon, but found it boring. Coach Serge Larher suggested she try sabre, even though the class had only boys. After her baccalauréat, she joined the centre for promising young athletes in Orléans, where she trained with the likes of Anne-Lise Touya and Léonore Perrus. She won the bronze medal in the 2007 Junior European Fencing Championships at Prague.
In 2008, Berder was selected as reserve for the Beijing Olympics. The same year, she took her first national senior title. In the 2009 World Championships at Antalya, she climbed her first international podium with a team silver medal after France was defeated in the final by Ukraine. The next season, Berder climbed her first podium in the World Cup with a bronze medal in the Orleans Grand Prix, hosted by her own club. France was defeated again by Ukraine in the 2010 World Championships at home in Paris, this time in the semi-finals. In the small final, they overcame the United States, weakened by the injury withdrawal of Olympic champion Mariel Zagunis, to earn the bronze medal. In 2011, Berder made her way to the final of the Orléans Grand Prix, where she was defeated by Zagunis.
In the 2013–14 season Berder won her first World Cup title in Antalya, defeating reigning Olympic champion Kim Ji-yeon along the way. She also earned her first medal in the European Championships with a team silver in Strasbourg. In the World Championships, she got to the table of 16, a personal best to date, but was stopped by Zagunis. In the team event, France defeated Hungary, then host Russia and Italy to meet the United States in the final. France stood their ground for most of the match, leading 20–15 at some point, before giving way in the seventh leg. They were eventually beaten 39–45. Berder finished the season 16th in world rankings, a personal best.
Berder is pursuing a master of journalism at the École supérieure de journalisme de Paris.
Berder is competing at the 2016 Summer Olympics. She defeated Ibtihaj Muhammad in the second round.
Medal record
Olympic Games YearLocationEventPosition2021 Tokyo, JapanTeam Women's Sabre2nd
World Championship YearLocationEventPosition2009 Antalya, TurkeyTeam Women's Sabre2nd2010 Paris, FranceTeam Women's Sabre2nd2014 Kazan, RussiaTeam Women's Sabre2nd2015 Moscow, RussiaIndividual Women's Sabre2nd2017 Leipzig, GermanyIndividual Women's Sabre3rd2017 Leipzig, GermanyTeam Women's Sabre3rd2018 Wuxi, ChinaTeam Women's Sabre1st2019 Budapest, HungaryTeam Women's Sabre2nd
European Championship YearLocationEventPosition2008 Kyiv, UkraineTeam Women's Sabre3rd2014 Strasbourg, FranceTeam Women's Sabre2nd2015 Montreux, SwitzerlandTeam Women's Sabre2nd2016 Toruń, PolandTeam Women's Sabre2nd2017 Tbilisi, GeorgiaTeam Women's Sabre3rd2018 Novi Sad, SerbiaIndividual Women's Sabre2nd2018 Novi Sad, SerbiaTeam Women's Sabre3rd2019 Düsseldorf, GermanyTeam Women's Sabre3rd
Grand Prix DateLocationEventPosition02/05/2010 Orléans, FranceIndividual Women's Sabre3rd02/11/2011 Orléans, FranceIndividual Women's Sabre2nd12/16/2016 Cancún, MexicoIndividual Women's Sabre3rd03/31/2017 Seoul, South KoreaIndividual Women's Sabre3rd12/15/2017 Cancún, MexicoIndividual Women's Sabre3rd02/22/2019 Cairo, EgyptIndividual Women's Sabre3rd
World Cup DateLocationEventPosition03/14/2014 Antalya, TurkeyIndividual Women's Sabre1st01/27/2017 New York, New YorkIndividual Women's Sabre1st01/25/2019 Salt Lake City, UtahIndividual Women's Sabre1st03/12/2021 Budapest, HungaryIndividual Women's Sabre2nd
References
External links
at the European Fencing Confederation