BOUBAKRI Ines

General
RETIREMENT THOUGHTS
She has considered retiring from the sport following the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. "I never thought of stopping my career after Tokyo, but when the Games were postponed, and with all my injuries and everything, I told myself, 'Okay, I think it's going to be my last Olympics', because I want to respect myself and I want to finish at the top. For now, I'm just focused on the Olympics and I'll see what happens after that. But I'm not going to lie, it has crossed my mind that I may stop after Tokyo. I'm a person who wants to experience other things because I'm not getting a lot of money from fencing. So as an independent woman, I have diplomas and I want to make another career in something else." (thenationalnews.com, 27 Jan 2021)

TRAINING IN UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
She is based in France but after much of Europe entered lockdown in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, she began training in the United Arab Emirates. "Going to the Olympics without enough competition under your belt, without knowing where your level is at, that's the pressure I am feeling at the moment. I quickly spoke to my coach and I booked a flight overnight to come to Dubai. It was a spontaneous idea and I do not regret it." (thenationalnews.com, 27 Jan 2021)

FURTHER EDUCATION
She has studied for a master's degree in sport expertise and high level performance at Paris Descartes University in France. She is also a certified physical education teacher. (thenationalnews.com, 27 Jan 2021; LinkedIn profile, 01 Jan 2017; escrime-xxi.fie.org; 21 Aug 2016)

She became the first Tunisian fencer to win a medal at the Olympic Games when she claimed bronze in individual foil at the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro. She was also the first Tunisian fencer to finish on the podium at the world championships after winning bronze in individual epee at the 2014 edition of the tournament in Moscow, Russian Federation. (SportsDeskOnline, 21 Jun 2018; citroen.tn, 17 Dec 2015)