Cover Foil fencer Amita Berthier wants to be considered as a serious contender at her second Olympic Games
Foil fencer Amita Berthier wants to be considered as a serious contender at her second Olympic Games
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Competing in various sports from kitefoiling to fencing, equestrian and rowing, seven athletes, who are among those representing Singapore at the Paris 2024 Olympics, share what it means to perform at the top of their game. Singapore foil fencer Amita Berthier looks back on the challenges she has faced, and her game plan for the upcoming Olympics
Before she became a national fencer and Olympian, Amita Berthier was a football player. At a young age, she, along with her older sister Aarya, was enrolled into the JSSL Singapore football academy by her late father, who was a fan of English football club Arsenal.
But everything changed when the family came across the Z Fencing club, at the time in United Square. “Looking through the big glass windows, we could see what was happening inside—and it looked super interesting,” says Berthier, the youngest of four siblings. Her parents promptly signed the two sisters up for a June holiday course and now, more than a decade later, Berthier is preparing for the Games in Paris—her second Olympic outing.
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Above Amita Berthier (pictured left) at the 2023 World Fencing Championships in Milan, Italy
Amita Berthier (pictured left) at the 2023 World Fencing Championships in Milan, Italy
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“You never take qualifying for any Olympic Games for granted. Qualifying once is really tough, but doing it twice in a row, and this time based on my individual world ranking, is definitely a boost of confidence,” says the 23‑year‑old foil fencer. “It shows that I’ve fenced well, made some improvement over the past couple of years, and climbed up in the world rankings.” When she qualified for Paris 2024 this March, the three‑time Southeast Asian (Sea) Games gold medallist ranked 28th in the International Fencing Federation’s world rankings for women’s foil, but has since moved up to her current 21st position.
Clearly, “some improvement” is an understatement. When she qualified for Tokyo 2020—the first Singaporean fencer to do so in the history of the Olympics—Berthier was ranked 60th in the world. Competing in the women’s individual foil event, she lost 15‑4 to American fencer and then world number five Lee Kiefer in the round of 32. “Competing in Tokyo 2020 was beyond my imagination, and being able to compete with the best in the world was exhilarating,” she enthuses. “However, meeting the Olympic champion in my first round was humbling. But instead of being defeated and down about how I did, I used it as motivation to come back stronger.”
Berthier has a different game plan going into Paris 2024. “I was more of a participant in Tokyo,” she says candidly. “This time, I expect to [go in not] as a participant, but rather, as a contender. I’ve been working hard these past months and I think it’ll show in my results. And if, for some reason, I don’t get the result I want, I’m not going to beat myself [up] about it. I’m still young, so I’m not setting any boundaries for myself. If I can go there and win a medal, then I’m going to go there and win a medal!”
She counts the time she studied in the US at the University of Notre Dame, whose fencing programme has notched multiple national championships, as being crucial to the development of her sporting career thus far. “I was sparring with some of the best fencers in the US, which is a huge contender in Olympic fencing. Being able to compete and spar with them on a daily basis was something I didn’t take for granted, because you can’t get that kind of sparring anywhere else.”
Performing at the highest level is not without its sacrifices. Now back in Singapore, she is training for the Olympics six days a week at the Singapore Sport School, which means less time spent with her family, let alone her friends, making her one day off a week even more precious. “My friends and family understand the journey that I’m on, and having their support means a lot to me,” says Berthier, who sees herself as “a huge family person”.
“Everybody expects the athlete to deliver, but having a strong support system in the journey to success is crucial because it takes a lot of mental tenacity,” she expounds. With her family making the trip to Paris this time, it only fuels the drive and determination that this young athlete needs to perform at the top of her game.
Credits
Images: Fencing Singapore
As Senior Editor of Tatler Singapore, Hashirin champions and refines the storytelling across platforms—curating and crafting compelling profiles, cover stories and features that spotlight visionaries shaping culture, business and impact. Driven by curiosity, she draws inspiration from the artists, changemakers and trailblazers she encounters through her work. Beyond the pages of Tatler, she is an avid supporter of local theatre and delights in seeking out art in every city she visits.
