Ysaora Thibus: "Concrete action" needed to move forward with gender equality 

When Ysaora Thibus became the world foil champion in 2022, she was featured on the front page of l’Équipe, France’s biggest sports daily.

“But in the traditional media, I realised that the visibility of women in sport was quite low,” recalled the 31-year-old fencer.

To confront those types of issues, Thibus founded Essentielle Stories, a platform “featuring elite female athlete stories” for women in sport who had not had the same kind of exposure she received.

To mark International Women’s Day 2023 (8 March), and with one of the themes being DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality, Olympics.com are featuring an exclusive interview with Thibus, who is fighting for gender equality using digital tools.

Ysaora Thibus: “I wanted to talk about topics specific to women”

“If it takes time to get noticed in the world of [traditional] media, why not use social media to speak directly to people who are interested in women’s sport?” Thibus asked herself.

She answered the question by creating the Essentielle Stories Instagram page in 2020. During a time in which COVID restrictions were affecting people across the world, Thibus published video interviews on Instagram, including those with Estelle Mossely on the subject of maternity for elite female athletes and Johanne Defay on marketing expectations. She also spoke to Allyson Felix about failing in sport, as well as maternity, and told the stories of Rouguy Diallo, a French triple jumper and Marie Patouillet, a French Paralympian and double bronze medalist in track cycling.

“There were many things besides winning a medal, and I wanted to talk about the failures. I also wanted to talk about mental health challenges and topics specific to women including maternity, menstruation and [its effect on] performance,” she explained.

From Serena Williams to Allyson Felix: Athlete mothers are more common but the subject is still complicated

In recent times, there have been many more athletes who have put their careers on hold to begin life as mothers, including Clarisse Agbégnénou, Serena Williams, Estelle Mossely and Allyson Felix, to name a few.

While those decisions were once rare they have become more common, and Thibus believes that if everyone involved played a part in helping the athletes return to elite sport, there would be no losers.

“A lot’s been done over the past years and we can see some things aren’t working. Female athletes are considering pausing their careers to give birth, but if they do so, how do they return to the elite level? It’s not simple, and it would be easier if clubs, coaches and federations were more aware and could create a better environment for athletes to make these decisions.”

In its 2021 Regulations on the Status, FIFA introduced maternity leave at two-thirds of pay with additional social protections, while the Rugby Football Union offered female players 26 weeks of fully paid maternity leave in 2023. In France, the national handball association developed the first collective agreement specific to female athletes, while the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation has allowed new mothers to retain a place on the World Cup circuit with no necessity to qualify again. It is a similar situation with the WTA where women tennis players maintain their seeding.

While the situation is evolving, these examples are still rare in professional sport.

Elodie Clouvel, the modern pentathlon silver medalist from Rio 2016, was participating in a photo shoot for Essentielles Stories when Olympics.com visited the athlete at INSEP. She is convinced this kind of initiative will be a catalyst for change.

“It’s true that the situation has progressed, but we still have a lot to do. [Ysaora] is moving things forward in her own way and I think that's awesome.”

Thibus: “Showcase other female athletes”

Thibus’s partner is American fencer and two-time Olympic bronze medallist Race Imboden, and she told us that the topics of gender equality and inclusion are “discussions that animate our relationship” and that they “try to move things forward”.

The second theme of International Women's Day 2023 is Embrace Equity, and Thibus also thinks that gender equality “concerns everyone, and men and women should progress together.”

For the first time in history, Paris 2024 will see the same number of female and male athletes competing. “The progress is nice,” Thibus remarked. “There’s also much to improve with everyone involved in sport, including other employees.”

“To have women who can talk about specific topics related to women. I also think about Laura Georges at the French Football Federation, who is working towards parity for female referees. All those elements are part of sport and I think they can still move forward.”

Thibus’s journey towards qualifying for Paris 2024 begins on 21 April at the World Cup in Poznan, Poland, where the first Olympic ranking points will be allocated. She’ll also aim to defend her title at the World Championships that take place in Milan, Italy this summer.

At the same time, you can continue to count on her to lead the other fight she cares so deeply about by working towards tangible goals focused on equality.

“The first thing I wanted to put in place is a concrete action. Humbly, at the level I’m on, to showcase other female athletes I find inspiring and to talk about other topics that I haven’t heard much about in the media.”