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Team USA athletes warm up for the World Cup season at January NAC

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A number of the country’s best fencers, as well as some of its’ most promising up-and-comers, have competed at the January North American Cup, held in Charlotte, North Carolina between January 4-7.

With the World Cup and Grand Prix season about to ramp up again, and with Tokyo Olympic qualification on the line at the season’s end, a number of big-name athletes weren’t wasting the opportunity to build momentum early in the year.

Among the biggest names competing were veteran NYC foilist Miles Chamley-Watson, the 2013 individual World Champion in Budapest, who took out his Division 1 final against Axel Kiefer from Kentucky, 15-7, having also narrowly beaten the 2018 World Junior Champion, Nick Itkin in their semifinal, 15-14.

Itkin had an incredible end to what was already an amazing 2018 when he defeated the reigning World champion, Alessio Foconi, and the reigning Olympic Champion, Daniele Garozzo – both Italian – on his way to his first senior World Cup medal, a bronze, at the Bonn event in November.

A clearly fired-up Chamley-Watson took to his Instagram account @fencer to celebrate the perfect start to his year:

‘I GOT SO MUCH LOVE AND PASSION FOR THIS SPORT,’ he wrote. ‘IT FELT SO GOOD TO WIN GOLD YESTERDAY. GREAT MATCH AND HAT OFF TO NICK AS WELL. I PUT EVERYTHING INTO THIS SPORT. NO MATTER HOW BIG THE STAGE IS I WILL ALWAYS GO HARDER THAN ANYONE ELSE WIN OR LOSE.’

In the men’s saber competition, won by Peter Souders from Boston Fencing Club, Daryl Homer, the Rio silver medalist and winner of the last two national championships, would have been disappointed with his ousting by Mexico’s Filip Dolegiewicz in their table of 32 contest by a margin of 15-13.

Similarly, two-time national champ, veteran Jeff Spear could not progress any further himself, beaten by Mitchell Saron from the Bergen Fencing Club, 15-5 at the same stage.

In the women’s foil, it was a definite case of youth rising to the top, with 15-year-old 2018 Junior World Championship bronze medalist, Lauren Scruggs recording one of the best results of her young career, defeating her teammate Sylvie Binder in the Div 1 final 15-11 on Monday after having won the junior title on Saturday.

Tying for third were two other young prospects, May Tieu and Maia Weintraub, both of whom are still competing amongst the junior ranks internationally, and both of whom took on much more experienced competitors to earn their first NAC medals.

A full list of all the Division 1 results in Charlotte are listed below. In total tere were a massive 16 categories of competition at the January NAC, including Cadet, Junior, three youth categories, Wheelchair, Veteran and Senior categories. For a full list of all results you can visit the USA Fencing website here.

2019 January NAC Division 1 Results

Women’s Division 1 Epee

1. Isis Washington – Peter Westbrook Foundation / Top Fencing Club (Metro NYC)
2. Anna Van Brummen – Alliance / TigerZ Fencing Academy (Gulf Coast)
3. Emily Vermuele – Olympia Fencing Center (New England)
3. Victoria Mo – New York Athletic Club (Orange Coast)

Women’s Division 1 Foil

1. Lauren Scruggs – Peter Westbrook Foundation / Top Fencing Club (Metro NYC)
2. Sylvie Binder – New York Athletic Club / Fencing Academy of Winchester (Westchester-Rockland)
3. May Tieu – Premier Fencing Club (New Jersey)
3. Maia Weintraub – Fencers Club Inc./ Fencing Academy of Philadelphia (Philadelphia)

Women’s Division 1 Sabre

1. Edith Johnson – Nellya Fencers (Georgia)
2. Sada Baby – Nellya Fencers (Georgia)
3. Aleksandra Shelton – Oregon Fencing Alliance (Oregon)
3. Anne-Elizabeth Stone – Bergen Fencing Club / Princeton University NCAA (New Jersey)

Men’s Division 1 Epee

1. Justin Yoo – LA International Fencing (Southern California)
2. Alen Hadzic – Fencers ClubInc. / Lilov Fencing Academy (Gulf Coast)
3. Lewis Weiss – Alliance Fencing Academy (Gulf Coast)
3. Cedric Mecke – New York Athletic Club (Metro NYC)

Men’s Division 1 Foil

1. Miles Chamley-Watson – Fencer’s Club (Metro NYC)
2. Axel Kiefer – Bluegrass Fencer’s Club (Kentucky)
3. Adam Mathieu – Fencer’s Club Inc. (Metro NYC)
3. Nick Itkin – LA International Fencing / University of Notre Dame NCAA (Southern California)

Men’s Division 1 Sabre

1. Peter Souders – Boston Fencing Club / DC Fencers Club (Capitol)
2. Andrew Mackiewicz – Penn State University Fencing Club / Zeta Fencing (New England)
3. Khalil Thompson – Peter Westbrook Foundation / Fencers Club Inc. (Georgia)
3. Kamar Skette – Nellya Fencers (Georgia)

Team USA athletes warm up for the World Cup season at January NAC


Top fencers to compete in the World Combat Games

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World Combat Games LogoLausanne, 21 October 2013 – The crème de la crème of fencing will participate in the 2013 World Combat Games in St. Petersburg, Russia.

Five out of the six top ranked fencers in the 2012/2013 season will compete from 24 – 26 October in the St. Petersburg Sports Complex: Arianna Errigo (ITA, women’s foil), Andrea Cassara (ITA, men’s foil), Ana Maria Branza (ROU, women’s epee), Rubén Limardo Gascón (VEN, men’s epee) and Veniamin Reshetnikov (RUS, men’s sabre).

They will be joined by reigning world champions Miles Chamley-Watson (USA, men’s foil), Nikolai Novosjolov (EST, men’s epee) and Julia Beljajeva (EST, women’s epee).
Errigo and Reshetnikov stick out in particular among these top athletes as they both became double world champions at the 2013 World Championships in Budapest, Hungary. In St. Petersburg, they will compete on October 24th with the gold medal matches starting at 6:00 PM local time. Men’s epee and women’s sabre is scheduled for October 25th. The fencing competitions close with women’s epee and men’s foil on October 26th.

The United States enters 4 total athletes in the World Combat Games with 2 time Olympic Gold Medalist Mariel Zagunis and Ibtihaj Muhammad competing in women’s sabre, and Race Imboden competing in men’s foil along with Chamley-Watson.

Arianna Errigo said about the World Combat Games: “I am going to the World Combat Games with the feeling that it will be a special competition for me. It is the first time that I will go on the piste as a World Champion, but this will undoubtedly give me a lot of strength. Furthermore, this event is taking place in a moment when the new season is beginning. Personally, I don’t feel at my best, because I am working to be ready in January. But when I compete I do want to win and in Saint Petersburg I will do anything to reach the best result.”

FIE Secretary General Frederic Pietruszka said: “The FIE is satisfied to have an additional competition that provides a high level platform for our stars. We are constantly looking at how we can reach out to new audiences. This is also why we launch a new Grand Prix series in the 2014/2015 season with nine top events in nine iconic places around the world.”

Fans and media can watch the World Combat Games live on their live feed and follow the live results at www.worldcombatgames.com.

Top fencers to compete in the World Combat Games

Team USA looks to start season off at the Challenge International de Paris

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Andrea Baldini won the 2013 Challenge International de Paris
Andrea Baldini won the 2013 Challenge International de Paris

The world’s top fencers are off to Paris to compete in the first Men’s Foil World Cup event of the 2014-2015 season. Team USA carries the young guns poised to make a medal run in Rio at the 2016 Olympics. The path to the 2016 Games starts in Paris as the US team looks to repeat their team victory from 2013 and World Champion Miles Chamley-Watson aims to add another victory to his resume.

Miles Chamley-Watson (USA)
Miles Chamley-Watson looks to add another medal to his collection.

The weekend of January 18-19 mark the Challenge International de Paris – the flagship tournament for men’s foil. The event will take place at Stade Pierre de Coubertin in Paris . Last year Andrea Baldini (ITA) defeated Jeremy Cadot (FRA) 15-11 in the finals as Italy dominated with 5 of the top-8. The top US finish in 2013 was Alexander Massialas in 11th place. In last year’s team event, the USA took gold, defeating Germany in the finals 45-33. About the CIP Format: Competition over 2 days :

  • Saturday, January 18 – Individual event (Quarter-finals begin at 4pm local time)
  • Sunday, January 19 – Team event (Semifinals begin at 12:30)

Competition organized by the ETF , created in 1953 under the name ” Martini Challenge ” is a test of World Cup senior men’s foil , accounting for the international circuit. Find all the information about the event : www.escrime – cip.com

Fencers in the Top-25:

Rank Pts Name Nationality
1 195 CASSARA Andrea ITA
2 195 MEINHARDT Gerek USA
3 182 AKHMATKHUZIN Artur RUS
4 167 CHEREMISINOV Alexey RUS
5 161 CHAMLEY-WATSON Miles USA
6 160 BALDINI Andrea ITA
7 143 DAVIS James-Andrew GBR
8 137 ASPROMONTE Valerio ITA
9 120 MASSIALAS Alexander USA
10 117 IMBODEN Race USA
11 116 JOPPICH Peter GER
12 113 HEO Jun KOR
13 112 AVOLA Giorgio ITA
14 90 MIYAKE Ryo JPN
15 83 HERTSYK Rostyslav UKR
16 82 CHIDA Kenta JPN
17 80 KRUSE Richard GBR
18 76 LE PECHOUX Erwan FRA
19 76 MERTINE Julien FRA
20 75 KHOVANSKIY Alexey RUS
21 75 MA Jianfei CHN
22 74 SEDOV Artem RUS
23 73 KIM Minkyu KOR
24 72 CHEUNG Siu Lun HKG
25 70 CADOT Jeremy FRA

CIP-2014 FIE Team Rankings:

Rank Pts Name
1 388 United States
2 364 Italy
3 316 Russia
4 304 Germany
5 246 France
6 220 Korea
7 215 China
8 202 Japan
9 202 Poland
10 198 Great Britain

Team USA looks to start season off at the Challenge International de Paris

Miles Chamley-Watson named Athlete Role Model for 2014 Youth Olympic Games

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Miles Chamley-Watson
Miles Chamley-Watson with a young fan in Venice. (via Facebook).

Today the FIE announced that Miles Chamley-Watson (USA), reigning World Champion in men’s foil and Olympic Champion Lei Sheng (CHN, also men’s foil) will be the Athletes Role Models for fencing at the Youth Olympic Games (YOG) in Nanjing, China, 16 – 28 August 2014.

Both will attend the YOG and inspire, mentor and engage with young athletes. They will share experiences, answer questions, provide tips on career management and also take part in various cultural and educational activities.

For example, they will be part of the fencing demo in the Youth Olympic Village together with young fencers as well as visit the fencing venue.

Miles Chamley-Watson said about being an Athletes Role Model: “I would like to thank the IOC and FIE for selecting me as one of the athlete role models for the Youth Olympic Games. I’m looking forward to the chance to work with the next generation of athletes as well as the opportunity to showcase the sport of fencing to kids from around the world.”

Lei Sheng commented: “It’s a great honor for me to be an athlete role model for the 2014 Nanjing Youth Olympic Games. I would like to thank you all for your trust and support. I will do everything I can for the YOG. As Nelson Mandela said ‘Sport has the power to change the world’, I can deeply feel the great responsibility and the sacred mission which had been given to the athlete role model.

The Olympic movement respects the fighting spirit of ‘faster, higher, stronger’, and pursues for essential doctrine of ‘unity, friendship, peace and advancement’. I believe that those spirits will be more popular support through the YOG. I greatly appreciate that I can act as the Nanjing YOG ambassador and can contribute to the building of ‘a peaceful and better world’.

The stronger the youth are, the stronger the world will be. I sincerely wish all athletes could give their best performance in the YOG, and hope that you, dear friends from all over the world, could spend a great time in Nanjing. Finally, I hope Nanjing Youth Olympic Games a great success!”

Miles Chamley-Watson named Athlete Role Model for 2014 Youth Olympic Games

Throwback Thursday: Harrods Magazine and Fencing

Awesome Fencing Fan-Art

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Race Imboden tweeted out some fan art of the US Men’s Foil Team:

usa fencing mens foil fan art
The US Men’s Foil Team of Race Imboden, Miles Chamley-Watson, Gerek Meinhardt, and Alexander Massialas captured as fan art.

Tracing this down led me to the Instagram account of oh_maju who had a number of other teams depicted:

Japan

Japanese mens foil team via Instagram
Japan’s Men’s Foil Team by oh_maju

Russia

Russia's Men's Foil Team by oh_maju
Russia’s Men’s Foil Team by oh_maju

Germany

German Men's Foil Team by oh_maju
German Men’s Foil Team by oh_maju

Italy

Italy's Men's Foil Team by oh_maju
Italy’s Men’s Foil Team by oh_maju

This is great art – I can’t wait to see what comes up between now and the 2014 World Championships in Kazan.

Awesome Fencing Fan-Art

The Longest Minute: Using the One Minute Break to Envision Victory

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Alex Massialas coached by his father, Greg.  Photo: FencingPhotos.com
Alex Massialas coached by his father, Greg. Photo: FencingPhotos.com

In a previous post, I suggested ideas for how a coach may properly utilize the one minute break to refocus his/her fencer and provide tactical recommendations to either turn the tables or maintain a lead.

At the recommendation of my colleagues at The Fencing Coach: Leland “The Dark Lord of Canada” Guillemin, and Hannah Provenza, I hope to address how an athlete may approach the one minute break should they not have a coach present.

In fencing, the one minute break is far more than an opportunity for the athlete to catch their breath (though in recent memory, I’ve needed the one minute break to do just that!). It is time for reflection; it is time to regroup, and a time to strategize for the period ahead.

Whether winning or losing, the simple act of disengaging oneself from the bout to collect one’s thoughts can have monumental benefits in the subsequent periods. For experienced fencers, this personal reflection can be even more advantageous than having a strip coach to discuss strategy with.

During the 2013 World Championships, Miles Chamley-Watson entered the second break with a 11-3 deficit to Sebastien Bachmann. Rather than summon his coach Simon Gershon for advice, Chamley-Watson simply closed his eyes, took a deep breath, focused, and strategized for the period ahead. Despite his eight touch deficit and Bachmann being only four touches from victory, Chamley-Watson believed that he could turn the tables on the German and win.

When recounting the strategic change in my interview with him, Chamley-Watson noted that “…I changed my game so I would be more stubborn in my approach and preparation. Each time I attacked him, it simply did not work. I decided I would start attacking him with the intention of picking up the blade in opposition which I had anticipated being the safest route to mounting a comeback. This gave me enough time to judge the distance, which was the difference in the match.”

Chamley-Watson’s articulation of his strategy is noteworthy for three reasons:

  1. He had a self-awareness for what was not working and what put him down eight touches. (Failure in approach and preparation)
  2. He understood what was in his repertoire and how he could use this to change the course of the bout. (Greater distance, intent to take Bachmann’s blade in opposition)
  3. He never believed the bout was out of his reach. “Mentally,” Chamley-Watson said, “always tell yourself that it is never over until those seconds end.”

The story is well known. Chamley-Watson came back on Bachmann, won 15-14, and ultimately went on to become the 2013 Men’s Foil World Champion.

Your coach isn’t going to be there with you for every tournament, and even if s/he is, the journey of the bout is sometimes best taken alone. Adjustments must be made from touch-to-touch, but the true strategic changes come during the one minute break.

With input from my colleagues at The Fencing Coach, we’ve designed the following diagram to help visualize how to best make use of the one minute break.

1488579_581163588656925_1788816933_n
Damien’s one minute break philosophy. Click to expand.

Remember, the bout is neither over if you’re winning nor losing. It is only over when, as Miles said, the final seconds tick away. Use that one minute break to position yourself for maximum success.

 

Talk Back: How do you use the one minute break to your advantage when you don’t have your coach present?

“I know it’s only somewhat related, but during college fencing bouts whenever the other team called a timeout in a bout I was fencing, rather than coaching or anything I encouraged my whole team to line up for hugs. I don’t know if it was the hugs, but I never went on to lose a bout that I was winning because the other team called a timeout. It was probably the hugs, actually.” – Ben White

“Jaeger Bombs!” – Aaron Hambleton

“Turn my back on my opponent, take deep breaths, drink my electrolyte water and think….rationally.” – Richmond Fencing Club Head Coach Cyndi Lucente

“Yell at myself in Bulgarian.” – Brandeis University Fencer Ari Feingersch

“The main thing I do when my coach is absent, is start to panic (prior to the break). That being said, as soon as the break starts, i’m working on controlling my breathing in-between drinking some water. That allows me to calm down and look at the other fencer as well as what i’m doing with a more controlled eye, allowing me to make necessary changes.” – Maccabi Team Member Andrew Bogetz

“Focus on facts and develop a plan from there. Normal questions I ask myself are: “What were the last 5 actions?” “What action was behind each of my points?” “What action did he use for each point?” “In both cases, does one action occur more than the others?” “What actions have I not tried?” “Physically WHERE on the strip has each touch occured? My side? His? In the box?” –Capitol Fencing Academy Assistant Coach Litteton Riggins

“Adjustments. Always about adjustments, whether you’re winning or losing. If you’re winning, how will they adjust to what you’re doing to beat them? The next point is about establishing the remainder of the bout. If I’m winning, my next point is something they haven’t seen me do yet, good or bad. Once they think you’re doing something else, go back to what was working as they will forget what they thought about at the break.” – Chad Short

The Longest Minute: Using the One Minute Break to Envision Victory

Vote Miles Chamley-Watson Athlete of the Month


Team USA athletes warm up for the World Cup season at January NAC

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A number of the country’s best fencers, as well as some of its’ most promising up-and-comers, have competed at the January North American Cup, held in Charlotte, North Carolina between January 4-7.

With the World Cup and Grand Prix season about to ramp up again, and with Tokyo Olympic qualification on the line at the season’s end, a number of big-name athletes weren’t wasting the opportunity to build momentum early in the year.

Among the biggest names competing were veteran NYC foilist Miles Chamley-Watson, the 2013 individual World Champion in Budapest, who took out his Division 1 final against Axel Kiefer from Kentucky, 15-7, having also narrowly beaten the 2018 World Junior Champion, Nick Itkin in their semifinal, 15-14.

Itkin had an incredible end to what was already an amazing 2018 when he defeated the reigning World champion, Alessio Foconi, and the reigning Olympic Champion, Daniele Garozzo – both Italian – on his way to his first senior World Cup medal, a bronze, at the Bonn event in November.

A clearly fired-up Chamley-Watson took to his Instagram account @fencer to celebrate the perfect start to his year:

‘I GOT SO MUCH LOVE AND PASSION FOR THIS SPORT,’ he wrote. ‘IT FELT SO GOOD TO WIN GOLD YESTERDAY. GREAT MATCH AND HAT OFF TO NICK AS WELL. I PUT EVERYTHING INTO THIS SPORT. NO MATTER HOW BIG THE STAGE IS I WILL ALWAYS GO HARDER THAN ANYONE ELSE WIN OR LOSE.’

In the men’s saber competition, won by Peter Souders from Boston Fencing Club, Daryl Homer, the Rio silver medalist and winner of the last two national championships, would have been disappointed with his ousting by Mexico’s Filip Dolegiewicz in their table of 32 contest by a margin of 15-13.

Similarly, two-time national champ, veteran Jeff Spear could not progress any further himself, beaten by Mitchell Saron from the Bergen Fencing Club, 15-5 at the same stage.

In the women’s foil, it was a definite case of youth rising to the top, with 15-year-old 2018 Junior World Championship bronze medalist, Lauren Scruggs recording one of the best results of her young career, defeating her teammate Sylvie Binder in the Div 1 final 15-11 on Monday after having won the junior title on Saturday.

Tying for third were two other young prospects, May Tieu and Maia Weintraub, both of whom are still competing amongst the junior ranks internationally, and both of whom took on much more experienced competitors to earn their first NAC medals.

A full list of all the Division 1 results in Charlotte are listed below. In total tere were a massive 16 categories of competition at the January NAC, including Cadet, Junior, three youth categories, Wheelchair, Veteran and Senior categories. For a full list of all results you can visit the USA Fencing website here.

2019 January NAC Division 1 Results

Women’s Division 1 Epee

1. Isis Washington – Peter Westbrook Foundation / Top Fencing Club (Metro NYC)
2. Anna Van Brummen – Alliance / TigerZ Fencing Academy (Gulf Coast)
3. Emily Vermuele – Olympia Fencing Center (New England)
3. Victoria Mo – New York Athletic Club (Orange Coast)

Women’s Division 1 Foil

1. Lauren Scruggs – Peter Westbrook Foundation / Top Fencing Club (Metro NYC)
2. Sylvie Binder – New York Athletic Club / Fencing Academy of Winchester (Westchester-Rockland)
3. May Tieu – Premier Fencing Club (New Jersey)
3. Maia Weintraub – Fencers Club Inc./ Fencing Academy of Philadelphia (Philadelphia)

Women’s Division 1 Sabre

1. Edith Johnson – Nellya Fencers (Georgia)
2. Sada Baby – Nellya Fencers (Georgia)
3. Aleksandra Shelton – Oregon Fencing Alliance (Oregon)
3. Anne-Elizabeth Stone – Bergen Fencing Club / Princeton University NCAA (New Jersey)

Men’s Division 1 Epee

1. Justin Yoo – LA International Fencing (Southern California)
2. Alen Hadzic – Fencers ClubInc. / Lilov Fencing Academy (Gulf Coast)
3. Lewis Weiss – Alliance Fencing Academy (Gulf Coast)
3. Cedric Mecke – New York Athletic Club (Metro NYC)

Men’s Division 1 Foil

1. Miles Chamley-Watson – Fencer’s Club (Metro NYC)
2. Axel Kiefer – Bluegrass Fencer’s Club (Kentucky)
3. Adam Mathieu – Fencer’s Club Inc. (Metro NYC)
3. Nick Itkin – LA International Fencing / University of Notre Dame NCAA (Southern California)

Men’s Division 1 Sabre

1. Peter Souders – Boston Fencing Club / DC Fencers Club (Capitol)
2. Andrew Mackiewicz – Penn State University Fencing Club / Zeta Fencing (New England)
3. Khalil Thompson – Peter Westbrook Foundation / Fencers Club Inc. (Georgia)
3. Kamar Skette – Nellya Fencers (Georgia)

Team USA athletes warm up for the World Cup season at January NAC

USA takes men’s team foil gold at world championships in Budapest

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The USA’s men’s foil team has won gold at a World Fencing Championships, a historic first for the squad despite multiple recent golds at World Cup and Grand Prix events. An all-round team effort by Race Imboden, Alex Massialas, Gerek Meinhardt and Miles Chamley-Watson has ensured that the number one ranked team led early against France and were never headed. By the time Massialas made the winning touch in the final bout to go 45-32 up, the French had already been frustrated and unable to respond to the American’s relentless pressure.

Vitally important to the win was Gerek Meinhardt’s performance against newly crowned individual world champion Enzo Lefort in the third bout (5-5). Nullifying him early gave Massialas and Imboden the belief that they could do the same thing later, which they did — Lefort ending up fencing a +1. Meinhardt, whose first world championship medal, a bronze, came in this event in Paris nine years ago, personified the U.S. team’s calm approach to their work, relying on years of experience to get the job done with what seemed like a minimum of fuss, strangling any hope of French panache. Unlike the women’s team events the night before, there was no call for priority time or come-from-behind heroics; just clinical, aggressive foil fencing to close out the match.

“We fought fire with fire today,” said Massialas of the win, “every time they hit back we hit back even harder, and we never let them go on any kind of run. I’m so proud of the guys standing next to me right now.”

After Imboden had given the USA an early lead (5-1) in the first bout against Le Pechoux, Massialas extended it by one to go 10-5. After the next two bouts both went 5-5, it was Meinhardt who increased the lead in the fifth, going 5-2 up on Le Pechoux, who was fencing -7 for the match.

In a somewhat surprising move, France then substituted Maxime Pauty, who was fencing -1, for Julien Mertine. Meinhardt immediately won their bout by a scoreline of 5-2 once again to make USA’s lead a clear 11 points, (35-24) by the end of the seventh bout. Lefort threatened a comeback against Imboden in the eighth, but with pressure mounting on the French to attack, both he and Massialas had all the breathing space they needed to bring home the win.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B0RYJrVA6IL/

“Last year was a big disappointment,” Imboden told FIE after the win, referring to last years silver medal in China after the team had won every world cup event that season.

“So we came together this year and really really focused on team. We worked hard and came here to fence whoever was put in our path. We got France who we haven’t fenced that often, but are one of the greatest team fencing countries in the world, so to win this is incredible. We have been the number one team in the world for a few years, and now we’re world champions!”

Commenting on the entire tournament, Imboden was full of praise for the host city and the championships in general.

“I love Budapest,” he beamed. “The competition was incredible, the venue was one of the best I’ve ever seen, and the crowds were great. I’m super excited to be here and to celebrate!”

In the other gold medal match to be decided on the final night of competition, Russia’s female sabre fencers were too strong for the French once again. Led by Olga Nikitina, who fenced a +7, Russia won 45-40 to deliver Sofia Velikaya her sixth team sabre world championship, the first of which she in New York back in 2004. Korea had earlier beaten Italy for the bronze, 45-32.

“I’m happy to win together with my teammates and happy to beat the French team today,” said Velikaya, who finished runner up to Ukraine’s Olga Kharlan in the individual competition.

“When we won today I forgot all my other medals because I live today and I’m happy for my team and happy for my country. I’m happy today!”

For the full results of the 2019 World Fencing Championships in Budapest, check out the FIE’s website here, and follow their YouTube channel for match highlights and past event video here.

USA takes men’s team foil gold at world championships in Budapest

USA takes men’s team foil gold at world championships in Budapest

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The USA’s men’s foil team has won gold at a World Fencing Championships, a historic first for the squad despite multiple recent golds at World Cup and Grand Prix events. An all-round team effort by Race Imboden, Alex Massialas, Gerek Meinhardt and Miles Chamley-Watson has ensured that the number one ranked team led early against France and were never headed. By the time Massialas made the winning touch in the final bout to go 45-32 up, the French had already been frustrated and unable to respond to the American’s relentless pressure.

Vitally important to the win was Gerek Meinhardt’s performance against newly crowned individual world champion Enzo Lefort in the third bout (5-5). Nullifying him early gave Massialas and Imboden the belief that they could do the same thing later, which they did — Lefort ending up fencing a +1. Meinhardt, whose first world championship medal, a bronze, came in this event in Paris nine years ago, personified the U.S. team’s calm approach to their work, relying on years of experience to get the job done with what seemed like a minimum of fuss, strangling any hope of French panache. Unlike the women’s team events the night before, there was no call for priority time or come-from-behind heroics; just clinical, aggressive foil fencing to close out the match.

“We fought fire with fire today,” said Massialas of the win, “every time they hit back we hit back even harder, and we never let them go on any kind of run. I’m so proud of the guys standing next to me right now.”

After Imboden had given the USA an early lead (5-1) in the first bout against Le Pechoux, Massialas extended it by one to go 10-5. After the next two bouts both went 5-5, it was Meinhardt who increased the lead in the fifth, going 5-2 up on Le Pechoux, who was fencing -7 for the match.

In a somewhat surprising move, France then substituted Maxime Pauty, who was fencing -1, for Julien Mertine. Meinhardt immediately won their bout by a scoreline of 5-2 once again to make USA’s lead a clear 11 points, (35-24) by the end of the seventh bout. Lefort threatened a comeback against Imboden in the eighth, but with pressure mounting on the French to attack, both he and Massialas had all the breathing space they needed to bring home the win.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B0RYJrVA6IL/

“Last year was a big disappointment,” Imboden told FIE after the win, referring to last years silver medal in China after the team had won every world cup event that season.

“So we came together this year and really really focused on team. We worked hard and came here to fence whoever was put in our path. We got France who we haven’t fenced that often, but are one of the greatest team fencing countries in the world, so to win this is incredible. We have been the number one team in the world for a few years, and now we’re world champions!”

Commenting on the entire tournament, Imboden was full of praise for the host city and the championships in general.

“I love Budapest,” he beamed. “The competition was incredible, the venue was one of the best I’ve ever seen, and the crowds were great. I’m super excited to be here and to celebrate!”

https://www.instagram.com/p/B0F47VjAhFH/

In the other gold medal match to be decided on the final night of competition, Russia’s female sabre fencers were too strong for the French once again. Led by Olga Nikitina, who fenced a +7, Russia won 45-40 to deliver Sofia Velikaya her sixth team sabre world championship, the first of which she in New York back in 2004. Korea had earlier beaten Italy for the bronze, 45-32.

“I’m happy to win together with my teammates and happy to beat the French team today,” said Velikaya, who finished runner up to Ukraine’s Olga Kharlan in the individual competition.

“When we won today I forgot all my other medals because I live today and I’m happy for my team and happy for my country. I’m happy today!”

For the full results of the 2019 World Fencing Championships in Budapest, check out the FIE’s website here, and follow their YouTube channel for match highlights and past event video here.

USA takes men’s team foil gold at world championships in Budapest

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