Fascinated by the mask, Nathalie dreams of Paris-2024 – 03/11/2023 – Sport

With her fluent Portuguese but with an Italian accent, fencer Nathalie Moellhausen, 37, is curious about the perception that she “disappeared” after the Tokyo Olympics, in 2021.

She stopped posting and appearing on social media. This, he believes, made it seem to many people that the athlete was “dead”. Lie. She continued to train, but away from comments, clicks and likes.

“I was more alive than ever. People see me win and think I’ve been reborn. When you win, you show up. When you lose, you disappear. It was the best life lesson from Tokyo-2021”, she notes.

Born in Milan, she was a Brazilian hope for a medal. She arrived in Japan carrying the 2019 world title and fourth position in the world rankings. Nathalie was unlucky in the draw and crossed the path of Italian Rossella Fiamingo, silver at Rio-2016, in the first round. It lost 10-9 in overtime.

He has already won two stages of the World Cup after that. In January of this year, in Doha, Qatar; and last month in Barcelona, ​​Spain. She was in the news again, just to confirm her theory: when she wins, she appears.

Not that being hidden, at least physically, is a problem. The mask, having her face hidden, is the component of fencing that fascinates her the most. It’s also the reason why she decided to practice it. She sees the device with such fascination that she believes it is her means of communication with people. It matters little that they cannot see her face.

“I want to keep this mystery of the mask. We are all hiding behind one. Our society wants quick and immediate information, without having to think too much. I have always used the mask as an art object and the practice of fencing is an art. I’m practicing an art that has to be trained on a daily basis”, he defines.

Nathalie has lived in Paris for 12 years and her view of the mask coincides with that of the French philosopher, epistemologist, poet, physicist and literary critic Gaston Bachelard, that it is an object of mystification – the idea that many people use the mask instead of the real thing. face as a means of concealment.

Philosophy student and art director, the fencer started in the sport, as a child, for the power to hide her own face.

“I was very shy. I thought I was ugly. When I saw the mask, I thought, ‘Wow, how cool!’ When I put it on, I felt like I was another person. There, I was in my world. That’s what fencing is. A relationship between two interlocutors hidden behind masks, without verbal conversation, but who have a communication that develops for nine minutes and 15 touches”, compares, citing the time of each combat.

The fascination that the mask exercised over Nathalie never died.

“Because of it and because you can’t see the face, it’s important to feel the other. You can’t hear it, you can’t see the face, you can feel it through the movements, the attention. Fencing is a game of who will impose their will,” he adds.

The desire that has not gone out of his head, for some years now, is to be a reference in Brazilian sport and inspire young people through the modality. She launched the “be your own hero” project, once again using the mask as a theme. Artist Kobra will paint three of them, one representing a lion, the animal most pointed out by children in social projects.

Three will be taken to Paris for the Olympics.

“Nowadays I see myself even more in this role. It is my mission [ser referência e criar um legado]. If I ask children to be their own heroes, I have to be my own heroes. The purpose is to help them use this power of the mask. I need to show them that I’m still capable of winning.”

The mask is once again an allegory. When the hero puts it on, does he hide who he really is or does he reveal himself? What’s the truth?

“There are many children in Brazil who could be Olympic champions in the future. I’ve been with them and they have incredible minds. It would happen easily if they had support.”

Nathalie doesn’t like the win-at-all-costs argument. She considers what makes an art and there can be no winners and losers. But she understands that for her dream of leaving an image for future Olympians in fencing to come true, she needs to win, especially next year in Paris.

In the name of this goal, she trains karate, boxing, does physical preparation, practices dancing, undergoes sessions with a psychologist and has a special job with a nutritionist. It is something that goes far beyond sport.

She seeks the answer itself so as not to repeat the Tokyo result. Without involving requests to higher forces. She remembers a phrase her stepmother told her, that “every time we ask God for strength, He sends us problems”.

“Defeats are tests that put our ability to believe in our dreams at stake. Defeats in fencing and in life test us. If you ask God for strength during combat, He sends you defeat, which is the only thing that allows you to evolve and keep your feet on the ground. We live in a society where people don’t face defeat. It’s much easier to let yourself down by it. What’s right is to overcome defeat.”