THIBUS Ysaora

General
FENCING COUPLE
She met her partner, US fencer Race Imboden, at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. "If he offers me advice, I am always ready to listen. After all he is world number one [May 2019] so I imagine his advice is not bad. In general we make a good couple, in sport and in life." (Instagram profile, 12 Jan 2021; rtl.fr, 09 May 2019)

RIO DISAPPOINTMENT FUELS REBIRTH
After finishing fifth in the individual foil event at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, she changed her approach to the sport, leaving her training base with the national federation in Paris, France to relocate to Los Angeles, CA, United States of America. She divides her time between Los Angeles, Italy and France and has taken an independent approach to her training. "My defeat in the quarterfinals at the Rio Olympics is the sporting failure that has changed my life the most, and in a positive way. I saw my opponents training full-time, so I decided to become a professional in an amateur sport. A few months later I decided to fly to live and train in the United States, in order to break out of the traditional system. I wanted to get out of my comfort zone. I did not leave angry, and I remain very grateful to the French federation. I am a globetrotter, I am independent, I choose my training, decide my schedule, I book my plane tickets, I pay my coach, my physical trainer." (liberation.fr, 30 Jan 2020; femininbio.com, 28 Jan 2020)

CHANGE OF COACH
In late 2018 she and her partner Race Imboden ended their collaboration with Ukrainian fencer Sergei Golubitsky and began working under Italian coach Stefano Cerioni. "With him [Sergei], I learnt to get out of my comfort zone, to challenge certain elements of my training and to think about what I really wanted to get out of the sport. [But] there were things that did not correspond with our vision of training. Race and I would have liked more involvement from him, but he was often busy with his club. Also, he had a very military coaching style. With Stefano, it is a different approach. We have found a more fluid dynamic to prepare for competitions that is built around the needs of an elite athlete." (lequipe.fr, 28 Nov 2018; lci.fr, 27 Apr 2018; Red Bull Media House, 13 Nov 2018)

GENDER EQUALITY
She says she wants to inspire young girls and use her platform to push for greater gender equality in sport. "Whenever I have the chance, I highlight women's sport around me, other female athletes because I think we all lack recognition and visibility. I denounce the injustices that still exist between women's and men's sport. What still displeases me is the vision we have of women in sport and in society. I've been told many times that I can't do it. When I decided to go to the United States, I was told that I was too sensitive, that with my emotions I would crack under the pressure, or that a man could do it but I couldn't. In the end, it motivated me even more and I have had the best results of my career since. My wish in 2021 is equal male-female media coverage, opportunities for equal partnerships, parity in sport and sports institutions, and taking into account the challenges and specifications to women's sport." (femininbio.com, 28 Jan 2020; Instagram profile, 10 Jan 2021)