French politician and fencer
Laura Flessel-Colovic
(born 6 November 1971) is a French politician and
epee fencer
who served as
Minister of Sports
from 2017 to 2018. Born in
Pointe-a-Pitre
,
Guadeloupe
, she has won the most Olympic medals of any French sportswoman, with five.
[3]
Before 2007, she was a member of the
Levallois Sporting Club Escrime
, and now works with Lagardere Paris Racing.
[4]
She is married and has one daughter.
She was France's flag-bearer at the
2012 Summer Olympics opening ceremony
in London, which was her fifth and last Olympics.
[5]
She was appointed Minister of Sports in the
Philippe Government
on 17 May 2017
[6]
and resigned on 4 September 2018.
[7]
Sporting career
[
edit
]
Fencer
[
edit
]
Laura Flessel began fencing at age six and quickly became a very talented fencer. She progressed quickly and became champion of Guadeloupe. Then, she gained solid experience on the Caribbean, Central American and Pan American circuits, winning in 1990 the Pan American Championships in foil and epee. The same year, she joined the metropolis, to train with the
Racing Club de France
. She also trains within the
INSEP
, which allows her to face the best French fencers.
She won her first world stage success in 1995, finishing in third place at the
Hague World Championships
.
[8]
This bronze medal is accompanied by a silver medal in the team event, which was defeated 45 to 44 by
Hungary
. Her teammates were
Valerie Barlois
,
Sophie Moressee
and
Sangita Tripathi
.
[9]
After her gold medal at the
1996 Summer Olympics
and her victory at
1998 World Cup
, she became the eighth French fencer, and first woman, to win the Olympic and World Champion titles.
[10]
She is one of the favorites for the
2000 Summer Olympics
title. She finally fails in the semi-final against
Timea Nagy
. At the
2006 World Championships
in Turin, she gets a new individual bronze medal, beaten again by
Timea Nagy
[11]
The
2008 Summer Olympics
, her fourth Olympic Games, marks a turning point as it is the first Olympics where she does not get a medal after being eliminated by
Li Na
(15-9) in the quarter-finals. The year 2009 sees again Laura Flessel at the top but still without success with a third place at the
European Championships
in
Plovdiv
[12]
and a failure at the
World Championships
in
Antalya
where she lost f in quarter final against
Lyubov Shutova
after a close match that ends in sudden death on the score of 7 to 8.
On 21 April 2012, she qualifies for the
individual event
of the
London Olympics
by defeating
Emma Samuelsson
in the semifinals of the European Zone Qualifying Championship in
Bratislava
.
[13]
On 14 May 2012, Laura Flessel is officially designated
flag bearer of the French delegation
for the
London Olympics
.
[14]
In her final competition, she defeated
Courtney Hurley
(15-12) before losing to
Simona Gherman
(No. 4 worldwide) 15?13. She ends her career at the age of 40.
[15]
Doping offense
[
edit
]
Laura Flessel was banned for three months in 2002 after failing a doping test.
[16]
She tested positive for the banned substance coramine glucose, blaming the French team doctors for giving her a drug that is available over the counter in France.
[17]
Sports management
[
edit
]
In 2012, she took over the management of
Nathalie Moellhausen
, a native of Italy and competing under the colors of Brazil, forming a group also composed of two fencing masters,
Daniel Levavasseur
and
Michel Sicard
, the latter having both coached Flessel.
[18]
Sports consultant and other activities
[
edit
]
Media and television
[
edit
]
In 2008, Laura Flessel was a columnist for the daily newspaper Aujourd'hui Sport.
She was a contestant on the
third season
of
Danse avec les stars
.
[19]
During the
2016 Summer Olympics
she commented, on
Canal +
, the
opening ceremony
with
Stephane Guy
and
Joris Sabi
, the
fencing events
with
Frederic Roullier
and the
closing ceremony
with
Julien Febreau
and
Jean Galfione
.
[20]
In 2012, she participated in
season 3
of
Danse avec les stars
(the French version of
Dancing with the Stars
) with her partner
Gregoire Lyonnet
but got eliminated in week 3, finishing 9th out of 10.
She is ambassador of the
AMREF
Flying Doctors' Stand Up for African Mothers campaign, the godmother of
Handicap International
, and Ambassador of
Plan France
.
[21]
His long-term project is to bring fencing to disadvantaged cities and places. She is also a goodwill ambassador for UNESCO where she promotes tolerance in sports.
[22]
She founded the association Ti'Colibri which aims to promote fencing. Thanks to its action, it has been able to offer means and equipment to clubs with few resources.
[23]
Political career
[
edit
]
During the two-rounds of the
French presidential election of 2017
, she was one of the sixty active or retired sportsmen who signed a call to vote for
Emmanuel Macron
on 7 May 2017 in the second round of the presidential election "so that sport remains an area of freedom, equality and fraternity."
[24]
On 17 May 2017, she was appointed Minister of Sports in the
First Philippe government
, under the presidency of Emmanuel Macron, a position she held in the
Second Philippe government
, which was formed on 21 June 2017.
[25]
The government's second most popular minister at the end of 2017, she is notably responsible for preparing the organization of the
2024 Summer Olympics
. At the beginning of 2018, she launched a campaign against discrimination in the sporting world, with as ambassadors
Antoine Griezmann
,
Estelle Mossely
,
Marie-Amelie Le Fur
,
Frederic Michalak
,
Emmeline Ndongue
and
Florent Manaudou
.
[26]
Honours
[
edit
]
- Summer Olympics
- Gold Medal in individual epee in 1996
- Gold Medal in team epee in 1996
- Silver Medal in individual epee in 2004
- Bronze Medal in individual epee in 2000
- Bronze Medal in team epee in 2004
- World Championships
- Gold Medal in individual epee in 1998
- Gold Medal in team epee in 1998
- Gold Medal in individual epee in 1999
- Gold Medal in team epee in 2005
- Gold Medal in team epee in 2008
- Silver Medal in team epee in 1995
- Silver Medal in individual epee in 2001
- Silver Medal in
team epee in 2006
- Bronze Medal in individual epee in 1995
- Bronze Medal in team epee in 1997
- Bronze Medal in individual epee in 2005
- Bronze Medal in
individual epee in 2006
- World Cup Fencing
- World Cup winner individual epee in 2002, 2003 and 2004
- World Cup runner-up individual epee in 1997
References
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
]
|
---|
- 1996
:
Flessel
,
Moressee-Pichot
,
Barlois
(
FRA
)
- 2000
:
Aznavourian
,
Logunova
,
Mazina
,
Yermakova
(
RUS
)
- 2004
:
Aznavourian
,
Logunova
,
Sivkova
,
Yermakova
(
RUS
)
- 2012
:
Li
,
Luo
,
Sun
,
Xu
(
CHN
)
- 2016
:
Dinu
,
Gherman
,
Pop
,
Popescu
(
ROU
)
- 2020
:
Beljajeva
,
Embrich
,
Kirpu
,
Lehis
(
EST
)
|
|
---|
Seasons
| |
---|
Specials
| |
---|
Tours
| |
---|
Celebrity winners
| |
---|
Professional winners
| |
---|
|
---|
International
| |
---|
National
| |
---|
Other
| |
---|