Regular readers of fencing.net already know that there are financial and administrative problems with the USFA. What may not have been apparent is just how bad things had gotten. Over the weekend I heard that the US Olympic committee would be stepping in to help our Olympic athletes to get the funding that they have been promised.
At an early stage, siblings Keeth and Erinn Smart chose different disciplines while fencing at the same club. As they head to Beijing, off-the-piste losses have brought this close-knit pair closer.
Becca Ward skipped last week’s World Cup in Havana, won by U.S. teammate Sada Jacobson, to rest up for the Las Vegas Grand Prix. It paid off, as she became repeat champion of the sabre competition.
One began in ballet, the other in ballroom dancing. Now devoted fencers, 2007 world champion Elena Netchaeva or her Russian teammate Sophia Velikaia could reign supreme in sabre in Beijing.
The first U.S. women to win an Olympics gold medal in fencing, Mariel Zagunis aims to defend her title in individual sabre and help the U.S. women win the team event.