Odette Drand took up fencing as a 14-year-old in German-occupied France, as it was one of the few sports that could still be practiced. After winning local and regional competitions during the war, she took her talents internationally after the conflict and, in 1950, was selected for her first World Championships, after coming in third in the French National Championships in the foil. At the Worlds, she won the team foil title alongside Renée Garilhe, Françoise Guittet, Lylian Guyonneau, and non-Olympian Jacqueline Baudot. They repeated this feat at the 1951 edition, then took silver behind Hungary in 1952, with Baudot replaced by Kate Bernheim and Françoise Mailliard. Drand was then selected to represent France in the foil tournament at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics, where she came second in her round one pool, behind Hungary’s Ilona Elek-Schacherer, but was then eliminated in the quarterfinals after coming fifth in her group. She retired from active competition shortly after the Games, but continued fencing, and golfing, for many years thereafter. Drand studied law, but ultimately ended up having a career as a store owner and businesswoman.
France