Manon Brunet

Manon Apithy-Brunet (born 7 February 1996) is a French right-handed sabre fencer, 2018 team world champion, two-time Olympian, 2021 team Olympic silver medalist, and 2021 individual Olympic bronze medalist.^[1] She won the individual event in 2024 at her home Olympics in Paris by beating her fellow countrywoman, Sara Balzer in the all-French gold medal bout.^[2]

Manon Brunet
Brunet in November 2014
Personal information
Nickname(s)	Brunette
Born	(1996-02-07) 7 February 1996 (age 29) Lyon, France
Height	1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)
Weight	55 kg (121 lb)
Sport
Country	France
Weapon	Sabre
Hand	right-handed
National coach	Mathieu Gourdain
Club	Cercle d'escrime orléanais
Personal coach	Christian Bauer
FIE ranking	current ranking
Medal record Women's sabre Representing  France Olympic Games 2024 Paris Individual 2020 Tokyo Team 2020 Tokyo Individual World Championships 2018 Wuxi Team 2014 Kazan Team 2019 Budapest Team 2023 Milan Team 2017 Leipzig Team European Games 2023 Kraków–Małopolska Team European Championships 2023 Plovdiv Individual 2023 Kraków Team 2024 Basel Team 2014 Strasbourg Team 2015 Montreux Team 2016 Toruń Team 2019 Düsseldorf Individual 2017 Tbilisi Team 2018 Novi Sad Team 2019 Düsseldorf Team

Personal life

Brunet was born in Lyon, France. She is the only child of her parents. Her father, Philippe Brunet, played football for French Ligue 1 club Olympique Lyonnais. She began fencing at age seven at the Sabre au Clair club in Lyon, France. Her potential was soon noticed by the national training hub [Pole Espoir] in Orleans, France, which led to her joining the Cercle d'Escrime Orleanais club at the age of 15 and eventually the National Institute for Sport, Expertise and Performance [INSEP] in Paris, France.^[3]

Brunet started off with taekwondo and dancing but did not enjoy either of them. A friend of hers suggested that she try fencing. She was attracted to fencing at first because it was kind of funny. The idea of wearing some sort of disguise amused her. Brunet loved the idea of herself being the only girl at her fencing club.^[3]

Brunet got a degree in marketing at EDHEC Business School.^[3] Brunet married fellow French sabre fencer Boladé Apithy in 2021.^{[citation needed]}

Medal record

Olympic Games

Year	Location	Event	Position
2021	Tokyo, Japan	Individual Women's Sabre	3rd[4]
2021	Tokyo, Japan	Team Women's Sabre	2nd[5]
2024	Paris, France	Individual Women's Sabre	1st[2]

World Championship

Year	Location	Event	Position
2014	Kazan, Russia	Team Women's Sabre	2nd[6]
2017	Leipzig, Germany	Team Women's Sabre	3rd[7]
2018	Wuxi, China	Team Women's Sabre	1st[8]
2019	Budapest, Hungary	Team Women's Sabre	2nd[9]

European Championship

Year	Location	Event	Position
2014	Strasbourg, France	Team Women's Sabre	2nd[10]
2015	Montreux, Switzerland	Team Women's Sabre	2nd[11]
2016	Toruń, Poland	Team Women's Sabre	2nd[12]
2017	Tbilisi, Georgia	Team Women's Sabre	3rd[13]
2018	Novi Sad, Serbia	Team Women's Sabre	3rd[14]
2019	Düsseldorf, Germany	Individual Women's Sabre	2nd[15]
2019	Düsseldorf, Germany	Team Women's Sabre	3rd[16]

Grand Prix

Date	Location	Event	Position
2019-04-26	Seoul, South Korea	Individual Women's Sabre	3rd[17]
2023-12-09	Orleans, France	Individual Women's Sabre	1st[17]

World Cup

Date	Location	Event	Position
2015-10-09	Caracas, Venezuela	Individual Women's Sabre	3rd[18]
2016-11-18	Orléans, France	Individual Women's Sabre	1st[19]
2017-02-17	Athens, Greece	Individual Women's Sabre	2nd[20]
2017-03-24	Yangzhou, China	Individual Women's Sabre	1st[21]
2017-05-12	Tunis, Tunisia	Individual Women's Sabre	3rd[22]
2017-10-27	Orléans, France	Individual Women's Sabre	3rd[23]
2018-03-16	Athens, Greece	Individual Women's Sabre	3rd[24]
2018-06-01	Tunis, Tunisia	Individual Women's Sabre	1st[25]
2019-03-22	Sint-Niklaas, Belgium	Individual Women's Sabre	1st[26]
2019-11-22	Orléans, France	Individual Women's Sabre	1st[27]
2019-12-13	Salt Lake City, Utah	Individual Women's Sabre	3rd[28]
2022-01-28	Plovdiv, Bulgaria	Individual Women's Sabre	2nd[29]
2022-03-18	Istanbul, Turkey	Individual Women's Sabre	1st[30]
2022-05-06	Hammamet, Tunisia	Individual Women's Sabre	3rd[31]
2024-03-04	Acropolis, Greece	Individual Women's Sabre	3rd[20]

Awards and honours

Orders

• Knight of the Legion of Honour: 2024^[32]