Cécilia Berder | |
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Personal information | |
Nickname(s) | Cec |
Born |
Morlaix, Brittany |
13 December 1989
Weapon(s) | Sabre |
Hand | right-handed |
Height | 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in) |
Weight | 69 kg (152 lb; 10.9 st) |
National coach(es) | Jean-Philippe Daurelle |
Club | Cercle d'Escrime Orléanais / INSEP |
FIE Ranking | current ranking |
Medal record
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Cécilia Berder (born 13 December 1989) is a French sabre fencer, who won a team silver medal at the 2009 and 2014 World Championships.
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 were 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 were 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.