If it were necessary to illustrate the limits of the sports governance model in France, the example of the French Fencing Federation (FFE) could constitute a textbook case. The president elected in 2020, Bruno Gares, had to resign after three years in office, leaving a legacy, less than a year before the Paris Olympic Games, an institution in the midst of a nervous crisis, undermined by the fights between people and chapels and financial drift dam.
Miraculously, the results of the French fencers at the Olympic Games did not seem to be affected, or only marginally: with seven medals, but only one title, fencing lived up to its status; which is the first sport to provide Olympic podiums to France. “We did wellsummarizes Rémy Delhomme, former member of the French epee team. From the last four years I remember a lot of disorganization, excesses… It is a shame to give that image of our sport. The Games allowed us to restore this image at the last moment. »
Rémy Delhomme is today a candidate for the presidency of the FFE, against a single opponent, Timothé Boudhil; the outgoing one, Brigitte Saint-Bonnet, elected in 2023 after the resignation of Bruno Gares, having not wanted to run. The voting of the clubs will be carried out on Wednesday, October 9, for the first time electronically, and its results will be ratified in a general assembly called for Friday.
“A small sport, but with a lot of content”
The two men agree on at least one point: the need to turn the page and bring stability and serenity to the federal building. To achieve this, Rémy Delhomme highlights the ” SKILLS “ that he gathered around him, where Timothé Boudhil prefers to evoke the “ideas” that he defends. If nothing fundamental seems to oppose them, they present different profiles and approaches.
Rémy Delhomme, 56, is a former high-level fencer who later made a career as an engineer at the EDF and at the same time worked as a fencing teacher: he trains the Olympic epee runner-up Auriane Mallo, who is at the club. your list. His candidacy for the presidency of the FFE did not surprise anyone, since he was involved for three years in a group of opponents of the outgoing team, called “Fencing, a shared future.”
Timothé Boudhil knows that he does not enjoy the same notoriety as his opponent. For this reason, he undertook a twenty-eight-day tour of France aboard a minibus to make himself known to the leaders of the clubs that make up the electoral body. At 31 years old, he seems like a new man, although he has presided for four years of the fencing club of the University of Strasbourg and, for two years, of the women’s epee commission of the FFE.
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