discovering the secrets of the blacksmith of the Games

2024-04-13 20:03:43

Published on 13/04/2024 22:03

Video length: 3 min

Paris 2024: discovering the secrets of the blacksmith of the Games

In the Loire, a forge is responsible for creating 90% of the swords for the fencers in the Olympic Games. The two Frenchmen Romain Canonne and Alexandre Bardenet went there to choose their blades exclusively.

(France 2)

In the Loire, a forge is responsible for creating 90% of the swords for the fencers in the Olympic Games. The two Frenchmen Romain Canonne and Alexandre Bardenet went there to choose their blades exclusively.

In an industrial zone of the Loire lies a cutting-edge company, which is operating at full capacity. A forge that makes the blades of fencers around the world. To achieve this there are around fifty steps. Some are kept secret, others are done on machines that sometimes date back a century. With his blades, Romain Canonne won gold in Tokyo, Alexandre Bardenet dreams of imitating him. That day, the two swordsmen crossed France to choose their future Olympic blades. Romain Canonne quickly falls under the spell. For him, a nerve blade is a blade that bends and returns to its original shape in the blink of an eye. “When you perform at a high level, you go looking for the nugget”explains the champion.

A careful process

If the company supplies 90% of the fencers for the Games, the French are the only ones who can come and choose them in the workshop. The know-how of this factory combines high technology which must remain confidential and ancestral techniques. It all starts with a piece of steel, which is then stretched and heated to 1,100ºC. The blade then passes through an old machine to give it a perfect shape. But the difference is especially made at this crucial and meticulous stage called training. Romain Canonne is counting on his new blade to repeat the feat in Paris.