 Berder in 2013 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
Nickname | Cec |
| Born | (1989-12-13)December 13, 1989 (age 36) Morlaix, France |
| Height | 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in) |
| Weight | 69 kg (152 lb) |
| Fencing career | |
| Sport | Fencing |
| Country | France |
| Weapon | Sabre |
| Hand | right-handed |
| National coach | Jean-Philippe Daurelle |
| Club | Cercle d'Escrime Orléanais /INSEP |
| FIE ranking | current ranking |
Medal record | |
Cécilia Berder (born 13 December 1989) is a French right-handedsabrefencer, 2018 team world champion, two-timeOlympian, and 2021 team Olympic silver medalist.[1]
Berder was born in 1989 inMorlaix, and grew up in the nearby city ofQuimper. 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.[2]
She first triedfoil, the traditional teaching weapon, but found it boring. Coach Serge Larher suggested she trysabre, even though the class had only boys.[2]After herbaccalauréat, she joined the centre for promising young athletes inOrléans, where she trained with the likes ofAnne-Lise Touya andLéonore Perrus.[3] She won the bronze medal in the 2007 Junior European Fencing Championships at Prague.
In 2008, Berder was selected as reserve for theBeijing Olympics. The same year, she took her first national senior title.[2] In the2009 World Championships at Antalya, she climbed her first international podium with a team silver medal after France was defeated in the final by Ukraine. The next season, Berder climbed her first podium in theWorld Cup with a bronze medal in the Orleans Grand Prix, hosted by her own club. France was defeated again by Ukraine in the2010 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 championMariel Zagunis, to earn the bronze medal.[4] In 2011, Berder made her way to the final of the Orléans Grand Prix, where she was defeated by Zagunis.
In the2013–14 season Berder won her first World Cup title in Antalya, defeating reigning Olympic championKim Ji-yeon along the way.[5] She also earned her first medal in theEuropean Championships with a team silver in Strasbourg. In theWorld Championships, she got to the table of 16, a personal best to date, but was stopped by Zagunis. In theteam event, France defeated Hungary, then host Russia and Italy to meet the United States in the final. France stood their ground for most of the match, leading 20–15 at some point, before giving way in the seventh leg. They were eventually beaten 39–45.[6] Berder finished the season 16th in world rankings, a personal best.
Berder is pursuing a master of journalism at theÉcole supérieure de journalisme de Paris.[7]
Berder is competing at the2016 Summer Olympics. She defeatedIbtihaj Muhammad in the second round.[8]
| Year | Location | Event | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 |  Tokyo,Japan | Team Women's Sabre | 2nd[9] |
| Year | Location | Event | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 |  Antalya,Turkey | Team Women's Sabre | 2nd[10] |
| 2010 |  Paris,France | Team Women's Sabre | 2nd[11] |
| 2014 |  Kazan,Russia | Team Women's Sabre | 2nd[12] |
| 2015 | Moscow,Russia | Individual Women's Sabre | 2nd[13] |
| 2017 |  Leipzig,Germany | Individual Women's Sabre | 3rd[14] |
| 2017 | Leipzig,Germany | Team Women's Sabre | 3rd[15] |
| 2018 |  Wuxi,China | Team Women's Sabre | 1st[16] |
| 2019 |  Budapest,Hungary | Team Women's Sabre | 2nd[17] |
| Year | Location | Event | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 |  Kyiv,Ukraine | Team Women's Sabre | 3rd[18] |
| 2014 | Strasbourg,France | Team Women's Sabre | 2nd[19] |
| 2015 |  Montreux,Switzerland | Team Women's Sabre | 2nd[20] |
| 2016 |  Toruń,Poland | Team Women's Sabre | 2nd[21] |
| 2017 |  Tbilisi,Georgia | Team Women's Sabre | 3rd[22] |
| 2018 |  Novi Sad,Serbia | Individual Women's Sabre | 2nd[23] |
| 2018 | Novi Sad,Serbia | Team Women's Sabre | 3rd[24] |
| 2019 | Düsseldorf,Germany | Team Women's Sabre | 3rd[25] |
| Date | Location | Event | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 02/05/2010 | Orléans,France | Individual Women's Sabre | 3rd[26] |
| 02/11/2011 | Orléans,France | Individual Women's Sabre | 2nd[27] |
| 12/16/2016 |  Cancún,Mexico | Individual Women's Sabre | 3rd[28] |
| 03/31/2017 |  Seoul,South Korea | Individual Women's Sabre | 3rd[29] |
| 12/15/2017 | Cancún,Mexico | Individual Women's Sabre | 3rd[30] |
| 02/22/2019 |  Cairo,Egypt | Individual Women's Sabre | 3rd[31] |
| Date | Location | Event | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 03/14/2014 | Antalya,Turkey | Individual Women's Sabre | 1st[32] |
| 01/27/2017 |  New York,New York | Individual Women's Sabre | 1st[33] |
| 01/25/2019 | Salt Lake City,Utah | Individual Women's Sabre | 1st[34] |
| 03/12/2021 | Budapest,Hungary | Individual Women's Sabre | 2nd[35] |
