Ulrich Robeiri (born 26 October 1982) is a French right-handed

épée The (, ; ), also rendered as epee in English, is the largest and heaviest of the three weapons used in the sport of fencing. The modern derives from the 19th-century , a weapon which itself derives from the French small sword. This contains a ...

fencer, two-time team European champion, six-time team world champion, 2014 individual world champion, and 2008 team

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece bet ...

champion.

Career

Robeiri was born in

Cayenne Cayenne (; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and capital city of French Guiana, an overseas region and Overseas department, department of France located in South America. The city stands on a former island at the mouth of the Caye ...

French Guiana French Guiana, or Guyane in French, is an Overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department and region of France located on the northern coast of South America in the Guianas and the West Indies. Bordered by Suriname to the west ...

. He began fencing at age 8 at the

Éclaireuses et Éclaireurs de France Éclaireuses et Éclaireurs de France (''Guides and Scouts of France'', EEdF) is an interreligious and coeducational Scouting and Girl Guides, Guiding association in France. The first interreligious Scouting groups in France were founded in 1911 ...

, an interreligious scouting association. He first practiced

foil Foil may refer to: Materials * Foil (metal), a quite thin sheet of metal, usually manufactured with a rolling mill machine * Metal leaf, a very thin sheet of decorative metal * Aluminium foil, a type of wrapping for food * Tin foil, metal foil ma ...

, the traditional learning weapon, before turning to

. He first joined the centre for promising young athletes in

Les Abymes Les Abymes (; ) is the most populous commune in the French overseas region and department of Guadeloupe, in the Lesser Antilles. It is located on the west side of the island of Grande-Terre, and is part of the largest metropolitan area of Gua ...

, in

Guadeloupe Guadeloupe is an Overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department and region of France in the Caribbean. It consists of six inhabited islands—Basse-Terre Island, Basse-Terre, Grande-Terre, Guadeloupe, Grande-Terre, Marie-Galant ...

, then at the age of 15, the centre of Reims in metropolitan France. In 2001, he earned a bronze medal in the Junior European Championships in Keszthely. A year later, he was admitted into

INSEP INSEP, the National Institute of Sport, Expertise, and Performance (Institut national du sport, de l'expertise et de la performance), is a French sport boarding school, training institute and center that trains elite athletes. It is located on the ...

, a state institution for high-performance athletes. That same year, he earned the gold medal both in the individual and team event of the Junior World Championships in Antalya. During his first season as a senior, he won the Lisbon Grand Prix and the Paris World Cup, and earned a bronze medal in the

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

in Havana. He finished the season No.4 in world rankings. After a dry spell in 2003–04, he won the Heidenheim Grand Prix and the Puerto Rico World Cup in 2005. The same year, he joined the French national épée team, which had won the Olympic gold at Athens. With

Érik Boisse Érik Boisse (born 13 March 1980, in Clichy) is a French épée fencer. He is the son of Philippe Boisse. Boisse won the gold medal in the épée team event at the 2004 Summer Olympics and the 2006 World Fencing Championships after beating S ...

, Jérôme Jeannet and

Fabrice Jeannet Fabrice Jeannet (born 20 October 1980 in Fort-de-France, Martinique) is a retired French épée fencer. Jeannet won the gold medal in the épée team event at the 2004 and 2008 Summer Olympics and a silver medal in the individual épée in 200 ...

, Robeiri won the gold medal at the

. The team would come to be known as “the Invincibles”, as they dominated men's épée from 2004 to 2010 with eight consecutive world titles. In the 2013–14 season, Robeiri placed second in the Berne Grand Prix and made it to the quarter-finals in the

European Championships A European Championship is the top level international sports competition between European athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. In the plural, the European Championships also refers t ...

in Strasbourg before being defeated by Hungary's András Rédli, who eventually won the competition. A month after, Robeiri made it to the semi-final where he defeated his old teammate

Gauthier Grumier Gauthier Grumier (born 29 May 1984, in Nevers) is a French left-handed épée fencer. Grumier is a three-time team European champion, 2015 individual European champion, and five-time team world champion. A two-time Olympian, Grumier is a 201 ...

. In the final, he prevailed over

Park Kyoung-doo Park Kyoung-doo ( or ; born 3 August 1984) is a South Korean right-handed épée The (, ; ), also rendered as epee in English, is the largest and heaviest of the three weapons used in the sport of fencing. The modern derives from the 19t ...

of South Korea to win his first individual World title. Robeiri graduated from the Polytech'Paris-UPMC engineering school. He works as an engineer within the information and communications systems division of

RATP Group The RATP Group () is a French state-owned enterprise (Établissement public à caractère industriel et commercial, EPIC) that operates public transport systems primarily in Paris, France. Headquartered in Paris, it originally operated under th ...

, the public transport operator for Paris, with a special contract which allows him to train and to attend major competitions.

Medal Record

Olympic Games

World Championship

European Championship

Grand Prix

World Cup

References

External links

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archive
* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Robeiri, Ulrich 1982 births Living people Sportspeople from Cayenne French male épée fencers Fencers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Olympic fencers for France Olympic gold medalists for France French people of French Guianan descent French Guianan fencers Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics European champions for France Olympic medalists in fencing 21st-century French sportsmen