(BEIJING, August 9) -- The United States fencing team has dominated the Women's Individual Sabre competition at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, taking gold, silver and bronze.
Mariel Zagunis retains her Athens 2004 Olympic title after defeating countrymen Sada Jacobson in the gold medal bout 15-8, and 2006 world champion Becca Ward who narrowly beat her Russian rival Sofiya Velikaya 15-14 for the Bronze.
The day started with some surprise eliminations. Reigning world champion Russian Elena Nechaeva and World No. 8 Leonore Perrus of France crashed out during the Round of 32, while Athens 2004 Olympic silver medalist Tan Xue of China lost in the quarterfinals.
Poland's Irena Wieckowska came back from 9-5 down to defeat Nechaeva 15-12, before losing 15-6 to Bao Yingying of China in the round of 16.
"I'm not satisfied with my performance at all. I tried my best but unfortunately I lost. This bout only shows that she [Bao] is better than me at this moment, but nothing more," Wieckowska said after the bout.
Bao then lost to reigning Olympic Champion Zagunis 15-9.
Russian fencer Sofiya Velikaya defeated the Chinese gold medal contender Tan in the quarterfinals. The Russian led most of the way, with Tan trailing 5-3, 8-5, 13-9 and finally losing 15-9.
The predominantly Chinese crowd cheered loudly at first, then nervously awaited the result throughout the second round and fell silent after their best hope for gold was defeated.
"At first, our scores were close to each other's, but later the difference of our scores became larger. That's because I was totally concentrated during the competition. Tan's injury and falling over made my success come easily," Velikaya said after the bout.
In the first semifinal bout, Sada Jacobson of the United States defeated Sofiya Velikaya of Russia 15-11, proceeding to the gold medal bout where she finally bowed out to Zagunis.
Zagunis had to beat her teammate Becca Ward 15-11 to advance to the final competition. Following the bout, she reported, "That was probably the hardest bout I've ever fenced in my career."
The gold medal bout saw Zagunis take on teammate Jacobson to take gold.
"I'm delighted that we did so well. There have been a lot of upsets in this tournament as Sada [Jacobson] said, who's fencing better when everyone's fencing badly, and I couldn't forget who I was fencing for. I'm honored to be here and be part of the sweep," Ward said following the event.
The United States had never won a medal in women's fencing until 2004, when Zagunis won gold in the Women's Sabre. The last American medal in the sport was in Los Angeles in 1984, when Peter Westbrook won the bronze in Men's Sabre.
Women's Sabre is the newest of fencing's six disciplines and is making its first appearance in the Olympics. The first world championship in Women's Sabre was held in 1999.
Final Results for Women's Individual Sabre:
1 ZAGUNIS Mariel USA - United States
2 JACOBSON Sada USA - United States
3 WARD Becca USA - United States
4 VELIKAYA Sofiya RUS - Russian Fed.
5 TAN Xue CHN - China
6 BAO Yingying CHN - China
7 BESBES Azza TUN - Tunisia
8 KHOMROVA Olena UKR - Ukraine
9 DYACHENKO Ekaterina RUS - Russian Fed.
10 JOZWIAK Bogna POL - Poland
11 BIANCO Ilaria ITA - Italy
12 KIM Keumhwa KOR - the Republic of Korea
13 KHARLAN Olga UKR - Ukraine
14 NAGY Orsolya HUN - Hungary
15 OVTCHINNIKOVA Olga CAN - Canada
16 WIECKOWSKA Irena POL - Poland
17 NECHAEVA Elena RUS - Russian Fed.
18 SOCHA Aleksandra POL - Poland
19 PERRUS Leonore FRA - France
20 LEE Shinmi KOR - the Republic of Korea
21 TOUYA Anne-Lise FRA - France
22 MARZOCCA Gioia ITA - Italy
23 CHOW Tsz Ki HKG - Hong Kong,China
24 VERGNE Carole FRA - France
25 HUANG Haiyang CHN - China
26 BENITEZ ROMERO Alejandra VEN - Venezuela
27 HISAGAE Madoka JPN - Japan
28 SASSINE Sandra CAN - Canada
29 PUNDYK Halyna UKR - Ukraine
30 BUJDOSO Alexandra GER - Germany
31 GONZALEZ POZO Mailyn CUB - Cuba
32 NAVARRO Araceli ESP - Spain
33 LARIOS Angelica MEX - Mexico
34 TOURE Nafi SEN - Senegal
35 CLOUTIER Julie CAN - Canada
36 BYRNE Siobhan Claire IRL - Ireland
37 du PLOOY Adele RSA - South Africa
38 WOOD Elvira RSA - South Africa
Original Article
