Julien Mertine

Last updated

Julien Mertine
Julien Mertine FFE press conference 2013-07-25.jpg
Mertine in 2013
Personal information
Born (1988-06-25) 25 June 1988 (age 36)
Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France
Height1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Weight80 kg (176 lb)
Sport
CountryFrance
Weapon Foil
Handright-handed
National coach Franck Boidin
ClubCE Rueil-Malmaison / PF INSEP
FIE  ranking current ranking
Medal record
Olympic Games
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2020 Tokyo Team
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 2024 Paris Team
World Championships
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2014 Kazan Team foil
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2019 Budapest Team foil
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 2017 Leipzig Team foil
European Championships
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2014 Strasbourg Team Foil
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2015 Montreux Team Foil
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2017 Tbilisi Team Foil
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2019 Düsseldorf Team foil
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2024 Basel Team foil

Julien Mertine (born 26 June 1988) is a French right-handed foil fencer, four-time team European champion, 2014 team world champion, and 2021 team Olympic champion. [1]

Contents

Career

Mertine (R) on the podium at the 2014 European Championships Award ceremony 2014 European Championships FMS-EQ t201505.jpg
Mertine (R) on the podium at the 2014 European Championships

Mertine took up fencing at the age of five with his father, a fencing master who trained amongst others World champion Victor Sintès. [2] When he was eighteen he joined the centre for promising young fencers at Châtenay-Malabry. He earned a team bronze medal at the 2007 Junior European Championships in Prag and at the 2008 Junior World Championships in Acireale. In 2009 he was admitted into INSEP, a state-sponsored institution for high-performance athletes.

Mertine climbed in 2010 his first World Cup podium with a bronze medal in Copenhague, and was selected into the France national team as a reserve. His first competition with the team was the 2011 Challenge International in Paris, in which France finished 5th. [3] 117th in world rankings, Mertine won the Havana World Cup that same season after defeating Italy's Giorgio Avola in the final. [4]

In the 2012–13 season, he earned a bronze medal in the Seoul World Cup and in the Tokyo Grand Prix, but ceded to Belarus' Siarhei Byk in the first round of the European Championships in Zagreb. [5] In the team event, France was overcome by Great Britain in the first round. At the World Championships in Budapest Mertine defeated Great Britain's Richard Kruse in the first round, but was then beaten by Heo Jun of South Korea. He was replaced in the team event by Enzo Lefort. He finished the season No.19, his best ranking as of 2014.

In the 2013–14 season Mertine won the national French championships after defeating successively Enzo Lefort and Erwann Le Péchoux. [6] At the European Championships in Strasbourg he lost 14–15 in the table of 16 to Alexander Choupenitch of the Czech Republic. [7] In the team event France defeated the Czech Republic and Italy before prevailing over Italy, allowing Mertine to win his first gold medal in a major event. [8] At the World Championships in Kazan he was defeated 13–15 in the preliminary table of 64 by Israel's Tomer Or after leading 13–7. [9] In the team event France defeated Russia in the semi-finals and proceeded to crush China to earn the world title. [10]

Mertine passed his fencing master certificate when he was nineteen. He now teaches fencing at his own club in Rueil-Malmaison and at CE Orgeval-Villennes.

Medal record

Olympic Games

YearLocationEventPosition
2021 Flag of Japan.svg Tokyo, Japan Team Men's Foil1st [11]

World Championship

YearLocationEventPosition
2014 Flag of Russia.svg Kazan, Russia Team Men's Foil1st [12]
2017 Flag of Germany.svg Leipzig, Germany Team Men's Foil3rd [13]
2019 Flag of Hungary.svg Budapest, Hungary Team Men's Foil2nd [14]

European Championship

YearLocationEventPosition
2014 Flag of France.svg Strasbourg, France Team Men's Foil1st [15]
2015 Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Montreux, Switzerland Team Men's Foil1st [16]
2017 Flag of Georgia.svg Tbilisi, Georgia Team Men's Foil1st [17]
2019 Flag of Germany.svg Düsseldorf, Germany Team Men's Foil1st [18]

Grand Prix

DateLocationEventPosition
05/04/2013 Flag of Japan.svg Tokyo, Japan Individual Men's Foil3rd [19]
03/15/2019 Flag of the United States.svg Anaheim, California Individual Men's Foil1st [20]

World Cup

DateLocationEventPosition
01/16/2010 Flag of Denmark.svg Copenhagen, Denmark Individual Men's Foil3rd [21]
06/29/2012 Flag of Cuba.svg Havana, Cuba Individual Men's Foil1st [22]
04/26/2013 Flag of South Korea.svg Seoul, South Korea Individual Men's Foil3rd [23]
01/19/2018 Flag of France.svg Paris, France Individual Men's Foil3rd [24]
11/08/2019 Flag of Germany.svg Bonn, Germany Individual Men's Foil1st [25]

References

  1. "INTERNATIONAL FENCING FEDERATION - The International Fencing Federation official website". FIE.org. Retrieved 12 August 2021.
  2. Alexandre Bardot (10 December 2012). "Les maîtres du savoir". Le Parisien (in French).
  3. "La France cinquième à Paris". L'Équipe (in French). 30 January 2011.
  4. "Fleuret hommes à La Havane : Julien Mertine l'emporte". French Fencing Federation. 1 June 2012.
  5. "Julien Mertine éliminé". L'Équipe (in French). 17 June 2013.
  6. "Thibus et Mertine titrés au fleuret". L'Équipe (in French). 21 June 2014.
  7. Christine Lapp (10 June 2014). "Au tour de Le Péchoux". Les Dernières Nouvelles d'Alsace (in French).
  8. Christine Lapp (14 June 2014). "Quatre garçons en or". Les Dernières Nouvelles d'Alsace (in French).
  9. Patrick Issert (16 July 2014). "Fleuret : Mertine chute". L'Équipe (in French).
  10. Patrick Issert (22 July 2014). "Les Bleus sacrés". L'Équipe (in French).
  11. "INTERNATIONAL FENCING FEDERATION - The International Fencing Federation official website". FIE.org. Retrieved 11 August 2021.
  12. "INTERNATIONAL FENCING FEDERATION - The International Fencing Federation official website". FIE.org. Retrieved 20 April 2021.
  13. "INTERNATIONAL FENCING FEDERATION - The International Fencing Federation official website". FIE.org. Retrieved 20 April 2021.
  14. "INTERNATIONAL FENCING FEDERATION - The International Fencing Federation official website". FIE.org. Retrieved 20 April 2021.
  15. "INTERNATIONAL FENCING FEDERATION - The International Fencing Federation official website". FIE.org. Retrieved 20 April 2021.
  16. "INTERNATIONAL FENCING FEDERATION - The International Fencing Federation official website". FIE.org. Retrieved 20 April 2021.
  17. "INTERNATIONAL FENCING FEDERATION - The International Fencing Federation official website". FIE.org. Retrieved 20 April 2021.
  18. "INTERNATIONAL FENCING FEDERATION - The International Fencing Federation official website". FIE.org. Retrieved 20 April 2021.
  19. "INTERNATIONAL FENCING FEDERATION - The International Fencing Federation official website". FIE.org. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
  20. "INTERNATIONAL FENCING FEDERATION - The International Fencing Federation official website". FIE.org. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
  21. "INTERNATIONAL FENCING FEDERATION - The International Fencing Federation official website". FIE.org. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
  22. "INTERNATIONAL FENCING FEDERATION - The International Fencing Federation official website". FIE.org. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
  23. "INTERNATIONAL FENCING FEDERATION - The International Fencing Federation official website". FIE.org. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
  24. "INTERNATIONAL FENCING FEDERATION - The International Fencing Federation official website". FIE.org. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
  25. "INTERNATIONAL FENCING FEDERATION - The International Fencing Federation official website". FIE.org. Retrieved 13 August 2021.