Laura Flessel-Colovic

Nickname

She earned the nickname La Guepe [the Wasp] in Guadeloupe. (Time Magazine, 11 Sep 2000; Athlete, 01 Oct 2011)

Hobbies

Golf, opera, scuba diving, travelling, spending time with family and friends, movies, dancing and music, French fashion. (escrime-ffe.fr, 24 Sep 2007; Athlete, 01 Oct 2011)

Occupation

Consultant, Councillor, Home Duties, Volunteer

Education

Business, Event Management, Tourism, France

Family

Husband Denis Colovic, daughter Leilou [2001]

Language(s) spoken

English, French, Spanish

Club name

Lagardere Paris Racing, Paris, FRA

Coach

Herve Faget [club], Stephane Riboud [national], Rudy Naejus [national assistant] (Athlete, 01 Oct 2011)

Handedness

Left (Athlete, 01 Oct 2011)

Other sports

Her father, Edward Flessel, was a footballer. (Athlete, 17 Jul 2003)

Injuries

In October 2010 she said: "For my part, I've been lucky. I have never had any real injuries. My injuries have mostly been sprains, strains and tendinitis, so nothing too bad." (interviewsport.fr, 15 Oct 2010)

Additional information

Start of sporting career
She started fencing in 1977 in Guadeloupe at OMCS de Petit-Bourg. (Athlete, 01 Oct 2011)

Reason for taking up this sport
The daughter of a football playing father, she grew up in an active household alongside three siblings and says she ran, swam and played like all boys in the Caribbean. Her mother tried to direct her energy into classical dance lessons, but Laura says she knew dance wasn't for her. One day she saw French sabre legend Jean Francois Lamour on television and was inspired to try fencing. Once she got a taste for competition, she was hooked. (Athlete, 01 Oct 2011)

Ambitions
To compete at the London 2012 Olympic Games and win gold. (newsofmarseille.com, 20 Apr 2011)

Most memorable sporting achievement
Winning the individual gold and team gold in epee at the Atlanta 1996 Olympic Games. "This double remains my best memory because in my sport, the Olympics are the greatest event. It was the first time epee was at the Games and Olympic history for epee starts with Flessel and France," she said. (interviewsport.fr, 15 Oct 2010)

Most influential person in career
"Thank you to all my coaches, sparing partners, family, friends and sponsoring partners. Becoming a champion is a team effort." (Athlete, 01 Oct 2011)

Superstitions / Rituals
She always listens to music when she trains. (INFO 2000)

Sporting philosophy / motto
"Fencing is a sport of maturity, like golf or chess... The older I get and the more experience I have, I take on a style that relies less on the physical and more on the mental." (newsofmarseille.com, 20 Apr 2011)

General
2012 RETIREMENT
She has indicated that she will retire following the London 2012 Olympic Games. She joked that her decision to continue until 2012 [she had previously announced retirement after the 2010 World Championships] came because "my little daughter told me she wanted to meet the Queen of England! I took that as a 'yes'." She insisted that with all her experience she would continue to be involved in developing fencers from France and its overseas territories.
(newsofmarseille.com, 20 Apr 2011; lemonde.fr, 18 Oct 2010)

MISS TELEPHONE
She has been nicknamed 'Miss Telephone' by her French teammates, because she spends so much time talking with her daughter on Skype or the telephone when she is away competing. "Even in the middle of a competition, I can think of her without losing my concentration. I know that might seem paradoxical, but having her in my thoughts even though she may be far away actually boosts my motivation." (la-croix.com, 17 Aug 2011)

GOVERNMENT / CHARITY WORK
In October 2010 she was one of 40 personalities named to the Economic, Social and Environmental Council in Paris, which advises the national government. She was chosen particularly for her sporting experience and specifically worked on the integration of sport into the education of children. She has also been involved with 'Plan France' and 'Handicap International', an anti-landmine campaign, and regularly works with local hospitals and schools in France helping sick and disadvantaged children. She also returned to Guadeloupe in 2005 to help earthquake recovery efforts, as well as to Haiti after its devastating 2010 earthquake. In 2011 she was named as president of a committee for the French minister of sport to fight discrimination in sport. (Athlete, 01 Oct 2011; legifrance.gouv.fr, 28 Oct 2010; lejdd.fr, 31 Oct 2010)

PREGNANT FENCING
"I already wanted a baby after Atlanta but I was a little young. But after Sydney and after 20 years of training, I felt like laying down the arms and becoming a mother," she said. "But I actually only stopped after being three months pregnant and even then, I was restless so I kept fencing in a chair," she said. "With age and after becoming a mother, you're not at risk of losing your style but your craving for the sport," she said. Her love of fencing was apparently unaffected as she won a silver medal at the world championships in 2001, four months after giving birth. (Eurosport.com, 10 Aug 2004)

DOPING CONTROVERSY
In November 2002, she received a three-month suspension after testing positive for a banned substance. She pleaded that she was not responsible, claiming a national federation doctor had inadvertently given her [and the entire French team] medication containing the substance. The doctor responsible for the alleged mixup, Dominique Poux, claimed an inexperienced assistant had bought the wrong glucose supplement for the team that contained the banned substance. After threatening to prosecute the French Federation of Fencing [FFE], she received compensation of approximately €100,000 from the federation's insurers. (Oxford Fencing.com, 04 Mar 2003; sport.fr 06 Feb 2004; tempsreel.nouveljobs.com, 19 Aug 2002)

EARLY DAYS
Her mother Marie Eva and father Edouard [footballer] were sports people, and she grew up in an active household alongside two brothers and a sister. "As child I was particularly full of energy. I started by swimming in the sea like all children in the Caribbean, and I played everything like I was one of the boys, running around, jumping, and so on. So one day my mother decided to put me in a classical dance course, but for me this wasn't possible. I knew I had to find some kind of activity that I liked, and quickly. One lucky day I was inspired when I saw a fencing report on television, of the French sabre legend Jean Francois Lamour. Immediately, I knew fencing would become an important part of my life. I started at

Previous Olympics

Beijing 2008, Athens 2004, Sydney 2000, Atlanta 1996