Fencing Worlds: Maxime Pianfetti eliminated

There will be no new world medal for Maxime Pianfetti in sabre. A year after coming close to winning gold in the final in Cairo, only beaten by a touch by Hungarian legend Aaron Szilagyi (14-15), the Frenchman painfully fell back to earth on Tuesday in Milan. Victim in the round of 16 of the Canadian Shaul Gordon (8-15).

However, as he had confided to Figaro before flying to the Lombard city, the 24-year-old Frenchman especially feared his entry into the running, this first round so tricky. Which he crossed without the shadow of a double face to the Polish Olaf Stasiak (15-7). Then, when the Tarbes machine was launched, normally, it did not experience any jolts. “This season, every time I crossed the 1st round, I also crossed the 2nd”, he had dropped. But in sport, alas, it is known that each series that lasts necessarily approaches its end. Which was the case for him during these World Championships...

From the outset in the hard against the Canadian, only 44th in the world while he himself is in 4th place, Maxime Pianfetti was also wrong to get frustrated over the course of the fight for unfavorable refereeing issues. Led 7-2, the French was a good illusion by getting closer to 7-4, but he went back to the ropes immediately (5-11). To finally lose seven touches (8-15), a gap too big to be simply linked to refereeing decisions. One year before the Games, the swordsman is therefore continuing his high-level apprenticeship. Hoping that this failure in Milan will serve as a (good) lesson for the future.