# Julien Mertine
**Julien Mertine** (full name Julien Jean Pierre Mertine, born 1988 in [Saint-Germain-en-Laye](https://www.edgepedia.org/saint-germain-en-laye), Yvelines) is a French right-handed foil fencer, an Olympic champion in the men's team foil at the Tokyo 2020 Games and a bronze medalist in the same event at Paris 2024.[1](https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/142869) He competes for the Cercle d'Escrime de Rueil-Malmaison club and has been a mainstay of the French men's foil team since the mid-2010s.[2](https://www.ffescrime.fr/athlete/julien-mertine/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 1988, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France; 1.85 m, 80 kg, right-handed[1](https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/142869) • [2](https://www.ffescrime.fr/athlete/julien-mertine/) |
| Weapon and club | Foil; Cercle d'Escrime de Rueil-Malmaison[2](https://www.ffescrime.fr/athlete/julien-mertine/) |
| Olympic medals | Gold, men's team foil, Tokyo 2020; bronze, men's team foil, Paris 2024; individual finishes of 24th (Tokyo) and 28th (Paris)[1](https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/142869) |
| World titles | Team world champion, Kazan 2014; team silver, Budapest 2019; team bronze, Leipzig 2017[3](https://www.lequipe.fr/Escrime/Fiche-guide/Athlete/Julien-mertine/72) |
| Best individual results | Gold at the 2019 Bonn World Cup and the 2019 Grand Prix of Anaheim; French individual champion 2014[4](https://fencing-efc.eu/news/frances-mertine-team-usa-win-gold-at-bonn-mens-foil-fencing-world-cup) |
| FIE career medal totals | Olympic Games 1 gold, 1 bronze; World Championships 0 gold, 1 silver, 1 bronze; European Championships 3 gold; Grand Prix 1 gold, 2 bronze; World Cup 6 gold, 4 silver, 10 bronze[5](https://fie.org/athletes/17449) |
| Honors | Knight of the National Order of the Legion of Honour, 2021; a fencing hall at the Cercle d'Escrime d'Orgeval Villennes club named after him in 2023[5](https://fie.org/athletes/17449) |
## Background and start in fencing
Mertine grew up in a fencing family. He took up the sport at age five in Mantes-la-Jolie, France, and his father Philippe worked as head coach, or maitre d'armes, at the Cercle d'Escrime de Rueil-Malmaison club.[5](https://fie.org/athletes/17449) By age 19 he had obtained his own maitre d'armes qualifications and began teaching while continuing a competitive career.[5](https://fie.org/athletes/17449) • [6](https://www.equipedefrance.com/athlete/julien-mertine) He has since worked as an assistant maitre d'armes at the Rueil-Malmaison club.[5](https://fie.org/athletes/17449)
His international breakthrough came in 2013, when he won a bronze medal at the Seoul World Cup, his first major individual podium.[6](https://www.equipedefrance.com/athlete/julien-mertine)
## Team success, 2014 to 2019
Further team medals followed: European team gold in 2015 at Montreux, world team bronze at Leipzig 2017, European team gold at Tbilisi 2017, and world team silver at Budapest 2019.[3](https://www.lequipe.fr/Escrime/Fiche-guide/Athlete/Julien-mertine/72)**2019 was his strongest individual season.** In March he won the Grand Prix of Anaheim, beating the Italian Tommaso Marini 15-11 in the final. In November he took individual gold at the Bonn Men's Foil World Cup, the 48th annual "Lowe von Bonn", defeating the United States' Gerek Meinhardt 15-9 in the final after beating Italy's Andrea Cassara 15-10 in the semifinal; the event drew 261 foilists from 26 countries.[4](https://fencing-efc.eu/news/frances-mertine-team-usa-win-gold-at-bonn-mens-foil-fencing-world-cup) He reached world number 10 in the senior rankings that season with 119 points, his career high on the FIE tracker.[5](https://fie.org/athletes/17449)
## Olympic Games
At the Tokyo 2020 Games, held in 2021, Mertine finished 24th in the individual foil, then won gold in the team event alongside [Enzo Lefort](https://www.edgepedia.org/enzo-lefort), Maxime Pauty, and Erwann Le Péchoux. France's title was its eighth men's team foil gold, a mark that led the event's medal table.[1](https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/142869) • [7](https://www.olympedia.org/results/19016471) He described the team gold as his most memorable sporting achievement.[5](https://fie.org/athletes/17449)
**Paris 2024 was a difficult home Games.** Ill with Covid-19, he missed much of the team competition, with reserve Maximilien Chastanet, only eighth in the national hierarchy, entering the line-up early on the day of the team event; France beat the United States for the bronze, with [Maxime Pauty](https://www.edgepedia.org/maxime-pauty) scoring the decisive touch.[8](https://www.lemonde.fr/sport/article/2024/08/05/escrime-aux-jo-2024-les-coups-de-poker-reussis-de-l-equipe-de-france-de-fleuret-masculin_6267691_3242.html) In the individual event he lost his second-round bout 6:15 to Japan's Kyosuke Matsuyama and finished 28th.[9](https://www.sportschau.de/live-und-ergebnisse/fechten/co178/olympische-spiele-florett-einzel-m/ma10373672/julien-mertine_kyosuke-matsuyama/info) • [1](https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/142869) The bronze made it two Olympic medals in succession for Mertine, who had been a pillar of the French collective for years and contributed experience off the piste despite the illness.[3](https://www.lequipe.fr/Escrime/Fiche-guide/Athlete/Julien-mertine/72)
## Recognition and personal life
In 2021 Mertine was named a Knight of the National Order of the [Legion of Honour](https://www.edgepedia.org/legion-of-honour), and in 2023 a fencing hall at the Cercle d'Escrime d'Orgeval Villennes club in France was named after him.[5](https://fie.org/athletes/17449) He lives in Antony, France, with his wife Anne-Sophie and their two children, Chloe and Baptiste; his listed hobbies include watching rugby and motorcycle racing.[5](https://fie.org/athletes/17449)
## References
1. [Olympedia – Julien Mertine](https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/142869)
2. [Julien Mertine – FF Escrime](https://www.ffescrime.fr/athlete/julien-mertine/)
3. [Julien Mertine aux JO 2024 (Paris) – L'Équipe](https://www.lequipe.fr/Escrime/Fiche-guide/Athlete/Julien-mertine/72)
4. [France's Mertine, Team USA Win Gold at Bonn Men's Foil Fencing World Cup – European Fencing Confederation](https://fencing-efc.eu/news/frances-mertine-team-usa-win-gold-at-bonn-mens-foil-fencing-world-cup)
5. [Julien MERTINE – International Fencing Federation](https://fie.org/athletes/17449)
6. [Julien Mertine – Équipe de France (CNOSF)](https://www.equipedefrance.com/athlete/julien-mertine)
7. [Olympedia – Foil, Team, Men (Tokyo 2020)](https://www.olympedia.org/results/19016471)
8. [Escrime aux JO 2024 : les coups de poker réussis de l'équipe de France de fleuret masculin – Le Monde](https://www.lemonde.fr/sport/article/2024/08/05/escrime-aux-jo-2024-les-coups-de-poker-reussis-de-l-equipe-de-france-de-fleuret-masculin_6267691_3242.html)
9. [Fechten, Florett Einzel (M): Mertine gegen Matsuyama – Sportschau.de](https://www.sportschau.de/live-und-ergebnisse/fechten/co178/olympische-spiele-florett-einzel-m/ma10373672/julien-mertine_kyosuke-matsuyama/info)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Sports, games, and recreation › Individual sports and outdoor recreation › Combat sports and professional wrestling › Fencing › French fencers*
*Initially written Oct 21, 2026 · Edited: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license